Adolescence is a period of growing focus on social interactions and relationships. The peer context is one of the most significant developmental contexts in this transitional period and positive peer experiences contribute positively to adolescent well-being. Although negative peer influence on antisocial behaviour has received much attention, we…

The risk for many young children from minority backgrounds of being excluded from a quality education might be reduced through the creation of a positive classroom climate. A systematic review was conducted to gain a better understanding of the pedagogical and structural aspects that foster a positive classroom climate in multicultural early…

Physical education is a relevant setting to develop students' social competence. The sport education model has the potential to promote social competence as it provides students with meaningful socialization opportunities. The purpose of this literature review paper was to: (1) describe the inherent structures and characteristics of the sport…

Peer relations constitute a main developmental context for adolescents. Peers offer an instance for identity definition and set the norms of acceptable and valued characteristics, behaviors, and attitudes, representing a societal model that allows and restrains avenues for adolescents' socioemotional development. The present article departs from…

The purpose of this article is to describe what has been learned over the past 35+ years of research on the friendships of young children with disabilities. An extensive literature review was conducted to critically examine the purposes that guided the friendship studies, the methods used to measure friendships, and the major findings of these…

This article reviews recent research on homeschooled children's socialization. The research indicates that homeschooling parents expect their children to respect and get along with people of diverse backgrounds, provide their children with a variety of social opportunities outside the family, and believe their children's social skills are at least…

Chronic illnesses and disabilities may impair the attainment of age-typical developmental tasks, such as forming relationships with peers and gaining autonomy. Based on a systematic search in electronic databases and cross-referencing, 447 quantitative empirical studies were included which compared the attainment of developmental tasks of…

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a lifelong condition that significantly affects the individual's learning, development, behavior, family, and quality of life. Diagnosing children with this condition and providing effective supports is challenging for professionals because little intervention research has been performed with the…

Reviews research on children's imaginary companions. Notes that companions may serve many psychological functions, such as compensating for real or perceived deficits, and helping the child through difficult developmental times. Suggests that the companion does not compromise reality testing or social development, but may foster developmental,…

Examines college students (N=70) for associations between friendsickness, precollege predictors, and the dimensions of college adjustment 10 weeks into the first semester. Results reveal friendsickness is associated with precollege social concerns, discrepancy between precollege expectations and college experiences, more precollege friends in the…

This article provides a review of the literature regarding changing communication profiles of individuals with autism as they reach adolescence and young adulthood. The impact of these language patterns on social and vocational functioning is addressed. Guidelines for assessment, goal development, and intervention are presented through a…

Discusses the role of humor in children's social development in the following areas: (1) social interaction; (2) friendship development and popularity; (3) hostility expression; and (4) interpersonal relationships. Argues that early humor development helps to optimize social development. (FMW)

Introduces this theme issue by synthesizing findings obtained using diverse methodologies derived from different theories about children's friendships. Comments on the trend away from studying global peer acceptance to studying friendship dyads. Discusses the features--individual, age, and gender differences--of children's friendships. (DR)

The normal course of children's development of social competence from preschool through high school is reviewed, and its relationship with developing language skills is discussed. Peer aspects of developing social competence, particularly those relating to friendship development and the development of interpersonal understanding, are highlighted.…

Four features of early adolescent friendship have received the greatest attention in the literature: intimacy of conversations, friends' responsiveness to each other's needs and desires, the degree of similarity or complementarity between friends, and the stability of friendships over time. Each of these features and its potential effect on the…