Abstract
Background
Early childhood is a key developmental period to assess social competence (SC) as experiences of peer interactions begin to accumulate. Past work suggests that temperament and forms of peer victimization (physical and relational) are independently associated with changes in SC, but less work has examined the differential effects of these factors.
Objective
This school-based study examined how peer victimization and temperament influence changes in SC. Temperament was operationalized using Lahey and colleagues’ (J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol, 37(4):794–807, 2008) developmental propensity model and was characterized as negative emotionality, prosociality, and daring. It was hypothesized that forms of peer victimization and negative emotionality would be inversely related, whereas prosociality would be positively related with SC. Prospective links with daring were exploratory. Hypotheses examined prospective relations with an overall SC latent variable and with its individual components (cooperation, social dominance, and positive peer interactions). Given its links with social development, executive functioning was thought to moderate these relations.
Methods
The sample consisted of 300 preschoolers (M = 44.72 months old, 44% female, 62.1% White). Data was collected from multiple informants (i.e., behavioral observations, teacher-report, research assistant-report) across a 12–15-month span.
Results
Negative emotionality was negatively associated with cooperation, and both negative emotionality and daring were positively associated with social dominance. Executive functioning did not moderate these associations.
Conclusions
This study provides a nuanced approach to the study of SC by accounting for both dispositional and interpersonal effects on SC. Moreover, these findings highlight that development of SC may be better understood by examining its individual components.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the PEERS project staff and the participating families for their contributions and support of this project. We would like to thank Dr. Dianna Murray-Close, Dr. Sarah Blakely-McClure, Dr. Kimberly Kamper-DeMarco, Dr. Lauren Mutignani, Sarah Probst, Dr. Kristin Perry, Gretchen Perhamus, and many research assistants for data collection and coordination. We also thank Dr. Julie Bowker for comments on a prior draft.
Funding
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-1450777) to the second author. Both authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Initial data collection in procedures involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the APA and SRCD, and was approved by the University at Buffalo institutional review board. Informed consent was obtained from teachers (i.e., prior to completing teacher reports) as well as legal guardians of the participants. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Science Foundation.
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Memba, G.V., Ostrov, J.M. Prospective Relations of Temperament and Peer Victimization with Changes in Social Competence in Early Childhood: The Moderating Role of Executive Functioning. Child Youth Care Forum 52, 1349–1370 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-023-09737-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-023-09737-w