Abstract
AbstractThe present study observed 86 three-year-old children (M = 43.7, SD = 6.4) from 15 Swiss childcare groups, to investigate multiple individual and contextual contributions to toddlers’ positive engagement with peers. The children’s individual characteristics (age, sex and social skills) and childcare-related predictors (emotional and behavioural support from caregivers, and structural group features) were assessed. We employed the child-by-environment perspective and tested the hypothesis that high-quality behavioural and emotional support provided by caregivers benefits children with deficits in social abilities. Results of the multilevel structural equation modelling indicated that toddlers rated by caregivers as sociable and assertive showed more positive situation-specific peer engagement, especially with a concomitant higher quality of caregiver emotional and behavioural support. By contrast, being prosocial-cooperative was negatively associated with observed peer engagement. Thus, children’s social skills were found to be the most important factor for peer engagement in childcare settings. Important suggestions for future research are made, and practical implications are discussed.
Funder
Pädagogische Hochschule Thurgau
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Developmental and Educational Psychology,Education
Reference109 articles.
1. Aarts, M. C., Burk, W. J., & Riksen-Walraven, J. M. (2016). Group functioning in child care centers: conceptualization, measurement, and relation with structural characteristics. Small Group Research, 47(5), 483–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496416658961.
2. Aguinis, H., Gottfredson, R. K., & Culpepper, S. A. (2013). Best-practice recommendations for estimating cross-level interaction effects using multilevel modeling. Journal of Management, 39(6), 1490–1528. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313478188.
3. Ahnert, L. (2011). Die Bedeutung von Peers für die frühe Sozialentwicklung des Kindes. In H. Keller (Ed.), Handbuch der Kleinkindforschung (pp. 466–485) Huber Verlag.
4. Anderson, N. B. (2006). Child-care effect sizes for the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. In National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Early Child Care Research Network.
5. Araujo, M. C., Dormal, M., & Schady, N. (2019). Childcare quality and child development. Journal of Human Resources, 54(3), 656–682.
Cited by
5 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献