Relations between classroom behavior problems early in the preschool year and elementary school literacy and language outcomes were examined for an entire cohort of four-year-old Head Start children (N=2682). A cross-classified random effects model was used that controlled for the variance in literacy outcomes attributed to: (a) child-level…

The purpose of this study was to test a model for predicting preschool-age children's behaviors with peers from dimensions of the classroom and teacher-child relationship quality when the children were from diverse race, ethnic, and home language backgrounds. Eight hundred children, (M=age 63 months, SD=8.1 months), part of the National Evaluation…

The current study evaluated the turn-taking skills of preschoolers with disabilities who participated in a social communication intervention that targeted initiations, responses, and turn-taking skills, and taught children to repair and revise and to avoid interruptions and overlaps. Ten children who enrolled in an inclusive at-risk classroom met…

Establishing positive peer relationships is integral to children's social development and is linked to a variety of long-term outcomes and life skills. The present study provides an in-depth examination of the ways in which child care providers guide young children in their early social experiences with peers during infancy, when social competence…

A preventive intervention for reducing physical and relational aggression, peer victimization, and increasing prosocial behavior was developed for use in early childhood classrooms. Nine classrooms were randomly assigned to be intervention rooms (N = 202 children) and nine classrooms were control rooms (N = 201 children). Classroom was the unit of…

We use observations from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and, Youth Development (SECCYD) to compare structural and process characteristics of child care centers, family child care homes (nonrelative care in a home setting) and care by relatives for 2-, 3- and 4.5-year-old children. Type of care differences in structural and caregiver…

Sixty-five (38 male and 27 female) preschool children (mean age=5 years 1 month) completed measures of peers' trustworthiness (promise keeping and secret keeping). Teachers rated the preschool children's inhibitory control, trustworthiness, and preschool adjustment. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) yielded support for the hypothesized model. The…

We examined the role of the teacher-child relationship quality (close, dependent, and conflictive) on preschoolers' (N=95) academic readiness for kindergarten, and we tested children's prosocial and aggressive behavior and peer group exclusion as mediators of this relation. A unique feature of this study is the ethnically and socio-economically…

Although research on assertion has made important advances in our understanding of young children's behavior within their peer group, there has been a significant limitation in that prior studies have generally not given attention to the gender specific social goals of girls. To advance the literature, this short-term longitudinal study uses a…

A semi-structured observational study investigated gender differences in delivered and received relational, physical, verbal, and nonverbal aggression in a young preschool sample (N=60). Findings revealed that gender differences in subtypes of aggression may be apparent as early as 3 years of age. Specifically, girls were found to deliver and…

This study focused on the nature of interpersonal understanding in 4- and 5-year-olds. Early childhood constitutes a critical transition period during which children become able to understand their own and others' "inner world" as it relates to actions. A neo-Piagetian theoretical and analytic framework was used to study children's understandings…

Explored the simultaneous sequential transition patterns of preschoolers' social play within classroom settings. Found that the proportion of social-play states did not vary during play episodes even when accounting for type of activity center, gender, and SES. Found a reciprocal relationship between parallel-aware and other social-play states…

Explored interface between preschoolers' socio-emotional characteristics and interactions with teachers during free play. Found that children who most frequently initiated teacher interaction behaved more aggressively than peers and were so rated by teachers. Children who most frequently received teacher initiations were more shy and anxious.…

Analyzed free play of 24 preschoolers (3 to 4 years old), half of whom had disabilities. Found that the proportions of time that each child spent interacting with peers and with adults were negatively correlated for 21 of the children. After an adult had initiated an interaction with them, children were less likely to initiate interaction with a…

Examined effect of a year-long implementation of a classroom rule in kindergarten classrooms disallowing overt exclusion among classmates. Found that observations and teacher reports did not differ between the six target and four control classes. However, children in target classes reported that they liked each other significantly more at year…