Early individual differences in prosocial behaviors are pivotal for children's peer relationships. To investigate the interplay among verbal ability, emotion understanding, and mother-child mutuality as predictors of prosocial behaviors, we observed 102 children at the ages of two, three, and four. All time points included verbal ability and…

The early developmental antecedents of individual differences in children's social functioning with peers in third grade were examined using longitudinal data from the large-scale National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study of early child care. In a sample of 1,364 children, with family and child factors controlled, the…

The hypothesis that the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's agreeableness would be at least partly indirect through their resiliency was tested. Eighty-two children (M age = 58.67 mos.) were participants. Children nominated peers on agreeableness and completed a behavioral measure of effortful control. Teachers and a…