The Friendship Features of Preschool Children: Links with Prosocial Behavior and Aggression

Abstract

This study assessed features of young children's friendships and determined whether the features reported were associated with prosocial and aggressive behavior. Teachers completed the friendship features questionnaires (FFQ) on the mutual friendships in their class identified by the 98 children who were interviewed (M age = 3.91 years). Four subscales (support, conflict, exclusivity/intimacy, and asymmetry) were differentiated from the 36-item questionnaire. Teacher reports of friendship features showed moderate inter-rater reliability and were associated with teacher reports of aggression and prosocial behavior and peer reports of acceptance and rejection. Friendship support was positively correlated with prosocial behavior, friendship conflict was positively correlated with overt aggression and peer rejection, and friendship exclusivity/intimacy was positively associated with relational aggression and negatively with peer acceptance. Findings are consistent with research on school age children's friendship features and their behavioral correlates.

Relationship between the social participation and social skills of pupils with an intellectual disability: A study in inclusive classrooms

“…Thus, it seems that their ability to form and maintain friendships was not influenced by a lack of social skills, and they even appear to possess skills that benefit interaction with peers. According to the literature, children require a number of basic social skills to form friendships (Gest, Graham-Bermann, & Hartup, 2001;Sebanc, 2003). Thus, it seems that the majority of the pupils with ID in this sample must possess these basic social skills.…”

Análise fatorial confirmatória do modelo do Questionário da Qualidade da Amizade numa amostra de jovens adolescentes Portuguesa

“…ex., Oh et al, 2008;Rose, 2002;Sebanc, 2003) e culturas, como os EUA, China, Indonésia, ou Islândia (p. ex., French, Bae, Pidada, & Lee, 2006;Kingery, Erdley, & Marshall, 2011;Svavarsdottir & Orlygsdottir, 2006;Zongkui, Dongmei, Xiaojun, & Xianfeng, 2006).…”

Profile of prosocial behaviors of institutionalized children at a school yard

“…Similarly, studies like this can encourage the development of (pedagogic-political and other) projects in institutions for children in order to stimulate prosocial behavior among peers. Current studies about the patterns of interaction in environments for the children (e.g., Barnett, Burns, Sanborn, Bartel, & Wilds, 2004;Carrus, Fornara, & Bonnes, 2005;Carvalho, 2000;Fernandes, 2006;Sager, Sperb, Roazzi, & Martins, 2003;Sebanc, 2003;Wolff & Fesseha, 1999) show that the social behavior of children is influenced by physical characteristics of the environment (dimension, structure and space setting) as well as social characteristics (characteristics of the subjects that attend such space). Therefore, interactions and behaviors of children have been studied, taking into consideration the influence of aspects related to the context in which these children interact with adults and groups of peers in the daily life activities.…”

“…Despite the importance of the prosocial behavior and its benefits to child development, it is noted that there are still few studies with the purpose to observe prosocial behavior of children in school environment in the last decades (Carvalho, 2000;Saud & Tonelotto, 2005;Sebanc, 2003;Turini & Rodrigues, 2008). Even fewer may be the studies on prosocial behavior with the observation of institutionalized children ).…”

“…Amongst the publications on this modality of behavior with children in school context, it is highlighted the study performed by Sebanc (2003). At a preschool in the state of Minnesota, the study investigated two specific behaviors in the children's interactions: antisocial and prosocial behavior.…”