Research Findings: Traditional peer sociometric nominations, even at early ages, are not replaceable by teachers' classifications of children's sociometric popularity. The association between reports from the two sources, although not independent, was weak, with teachers perceiving more children as popular and fewer children as rejected. Teacher…

Research Findings: Two forms of exercise play (toy mediated and non-mediated) and 2 forms of rough-and-tumble (R&T) play (chase and fighting) were examined in relation to preschoolers' peer competence. A total of 148 preschoolers (78 boys, 89 Euro-Americans) were observed during free play at their university-sponsored child care center. The…

Research Findings: In this examination of associations between sibling interaction patterns and later social outcomes in single- and 2-parent families, 113 kindergarteners took part in naturalistic observations at home with siblings, classmates participated in sociometric interviews, and teachers completed behavior ratings. Sibling interactions…

Research Findings: The aim of this longitudinal study was to explore peer relationships across the transition from preschool to school. Participants were 35 (17 male) children attending the Irish preschool initiative Early Start (M age = 49.31 months). Sociometric measures were employed on two occasions: at the end of preschool and in the first…

Behavioral observations and sociometric ratings were assessed in separate 3- and 4-year-olds child-care classes across a 2-year period. In general, correspondence between behavioral observations and sociometric ratings increased with age, and social structure showed greater cohesion in the 4-year-olds class. Gender was an organizing principle in…

Rating and nomination sociometric assessments were used to investigate patterns of friendship among 1,168 students in 66 ungraded primary classrooms. Analyses revealed that both peer acceptance level and age relative to classmates influenced whether children had friends, the total number of reciprocated friendships, and the numbers of friendships…

Peer nominations and teacher ratings of children's social behaviors were obtained for 36 preschoolers during their first, second, and third years in preschool. Peer nominations showed stability across time, and teacher ratings correlated with peer nominations. (MDM)

Studied the longitudinal stability of measures of peer acceptance, social status, and social reputation and the role of children's ages relative to classmates during the transition from same-age kindergarten to mixed-age ungraded primary classes. Found that overall peer acceptance and aggressive social reputation were moderately stable. Half of…