Behavioral And Physiological Correlates Of Friendship In Preschool Children

Forty children between 21 and 64 months of age participated in a study to examine the behavioral and physiological correlates of friendship. Behavioral observations, sociometric interviews and teacher ratings were used to differentiate friends from acquaintances within the sample. Subsequently, dyads of both friends and acquaintances were observed interacting in a laboratory playroom.Heart rate was recorded simultaneously from each member of the dyad during a baseline condition and then during the 10 minute laboratory session. Behavioral observations were also conducted during the 10 minute interaction session. Following the session, saliva samples were obtained from the children for a measure of the production of cortisol, an index of stress.Analysis of the social behavior of the children yielded no significant differences among friend vs. acquaintance dyads perhaps due to the similar levels of stress among the children induced by the unfamiliar laboratory playroom. Heart rate and cortisol levels were elevated in the children when they were paired with acquaintances as opposed to friends in a laboratory free-play session. Elevated heart rate and cortisol levels indicate that the children found the situation stressful.These findings highlight the importance of analyzing differences in physiological measures as they relate to interaction among children. It seems possible that differences in physiological arousal in dyads of young children may be related to stress. Behavioral data combined with information from child interviews, teacher ratings of friendship, physiological measures and laboratory observations of friend dyads and acquaintance dyads contribute to a broader-based data bank on friendship development in preschool children

Concordance of play behavior and physiology in preschool friends

Close friends and acquaintances were identified among 34 nursery school toddlers and preschoolers based on behavioral observation sociograms and child and teacher sociometric ratings. The children were then paired with their friends and acquaintances for dyadic play interactions. Play behaviors were coded for the videotaped play sessions, heart rate was monitored, and cortisol levels were assayed from saliva samples. Greater concordance was noted for friend versus acquaintance pairs on some play behaviors, on baseline heart rate, and on cortisol levels, suggesting that friends become attuned to each others' behaviors and physiological rhythms as early as the toddler/preschool stage. Furthermore, findings suggest that stress experienced by young children may be reduced by the presence of a close friend, thereby reinforcing the notion that early friendships play an important role in development

Infant day care facilitates preschool social behavior

Seventy-one preschool-age children entering infant day care at varying times and receiving varying amounts of infant day care were compared on their reunion-with-parent behavior, teacher and parent ratings of their behavior, and playground play interactions. Age of entry into day care (≤ 6 months vs. > 6 months) had no significant effect on attachment to mother as measured by reunion behaviors or on play and socialization skills as measured by observation and behavior rating scales in a full-time day-care setting. Furthermore, children with more hours and months of day care engaged in less watching, solitary play, and teacher comfort-seeking behavior, and they showed more cooperative play, positive affect, peer interaction, and positive verbal interaction. Thus continuous infant day care in quality centers appears to facilitate preschool social behavior and does not negatively affect attachment behavior

Aerobics Enhances Cardiovascular Fitness and Agility in Preschoolers

Investigated effects of aerobic exercise on a sample of 24 preschoolers. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercises were provided daily for a period of 8 weeks for a group of 12 children while the remaining 12 children engaged in freeplay on the school playground. The children were given pretests and posttests on the following measures: a submaximal exercise test on a pediatric bicycle (baseline and three workloads), an agility test, a health knowledge test, a self-esteem scale, and an observational measure of their gross-motor activity. Despite comparability on pretests, significant group×repeated measures effects suggested that the aerobic exercise group showed decreases in heart rate at all three workloads as well as increases in agility and self-esteem following the exercise program. These findings suggest that cardiovascular fitness, agility, and self-esteem can be facilitated in preschoolers by an aerobic exercise program. Key words: exercise, fitness, children, self-estee

Behavior-State Matching and Synchrony in Mother-Infant Interactions of Nondepressed Versus Depressed Dyads

Behavior-state matching and synchrony in interactions were assessed in 48 depressed and nondepressed mother-infant dyads when the infants were 3 months old. Attentive/affective behavior states were coded for the infants and mothers on a negative to positive scale. The depressed mothers and their infants matched negative behavior states more often and positive behavior states less often than did the nondepressed dyads. The total percentage of time spent in matching behavior states was less for the depressed than for the nondepressed dyads. Cross-spectral analyses of the mothers' and infants' behavior-state time series suggested only a trend for greater coherence or synchrony in the interactions of the nondepressed dyads

Interaction behavior of infants and their dual-career parents

The behaviors of dual-career parents were compared in face-to-face interactions with their 8-month-old infants who attended on all-day infant nursery. Mothers, as compared to fathers, exhibited more frequent smiling, vocalizing, and touching with their infants. In turn, the infants spent a greater proportion of the interaction time smiling and being motorically active when they were interacting with their mothers versus their fathers

Reliability, stability, and relationships between infant and parent temperament

Reliability, stability, and relationships between infant and parent temperament were assessed using infant adaptations of 2 childhood temperament inventories. Both scales were moderately reliable, stability was moderate for the 4- to 18-month periods, and significant correlations were noted between mother and infant temperament ratings