Children’s Communication Strategies Used to Initiate and Sustain Connectedness with Siblings and Friends Across Time

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Social Relationships

Abstract

Children’s relationships with other children are a crucial context for their development (Carpendale & Lewis, 2015). During early and middle childhood, children engage in frequent social play, which requires partners (e.g., siblings, friends) to negotiate, collaborate, and take the other’s perspective to maintain and further their shared activity (Göncü, 1993). Further, children need to establish and maintain connectedness by coordinating their ongoing interactions and communicate and share ideas to establish a shared understanding of the pretend scenario (Howe et al., 2005). The present study investigated children’s communication used to initiate, sustain, and end connectedness with siblings and friends from early to middle childhood.
Forty-four focal child were observed at ages 4 and 7 in two separate, counterbalanced, videotaped play sessions (i.e., sibling, friend). Data were coded for communication connectedness: (a) initiated-connectedness and (b) sustained-connectedness and for communication strategies: (a) play introductions, (b) simple strategies (e.g., descriptions), (c) semantic tying (e.g., extending partner’s idea), (d) clarifications, (e) negotiation responses (e.g., positive, negative), (f) prosocial behavior, (g) disruptive behavior, and (h) play voice (i.e., exaggerated voice indicating pretense) (Howe et al., 2005). Connectedness codes were combined with the communication codes to create a new blended code (e.g., “where’s the doggy?” was coded as initiated-connectedness for connectedness and clarification for communication strategies, thus creating the blended code initiated connectedness-clarification).
A 2 (relationship) x 2 (time) MANOVA with initiate connected-communication strategies as the dependent variables revealed multivariate effects, Wilk’s λ = .62, F(9, 33) = 2.23, p = .04, ηp2 = .38. Follow-up ANOVAs revealed a main effect of relationship on initiate connected-prosocial behavior, F(1, 41) = 5.23, p = .027, ηp2 = .11, and initiate connected-play voice, F(1, 41) = 4.14, p = .04, ηp2 = .09. When initiating connectedness, prosocial behavior (M = .16, SE = .02) and play voice (M = .11, SE = .02) occurred more with friends than siblings (M = .09, SE = .02; M = .06, SE = .01, respectively).
A 2 (relationship) x 2 (time) MANOVA with the connected sustain-communication variables revealed multivariate effects, Wilk’s λ = .61, F(9, 35) = 2.46, p = .02, ηp2 = .39. Follow-up ANOVAs indicated a main effect of relationship on connected sustain-clarifications, F(1, 43) = 8.34, p = .006, ηp2 = .16, and trends for connected sustain-positive response, F(1, 43) = 3.32, p = .07, ηp2 = .07, and connected sustain-play voice, F(1, 43) = 3.43, p = .06, ηp2 = .07. Children used clarifications to sustain connectedness more with siblings (M = .23, SE = .02) than friends (M = .17, SE = .02); they responded more positively (M = .20, SE = .01) and used a play voice (M = .06, SE = .01) more with friends than siblings (M = .16, SE = .01; M = .04, SE = .01, respectively).
Children used similar strategies to initiate, sustain, and end connectedness across play sessions with a few notable relationship differences providing nuanced, novel insights into children’s communication and connectedness in relationships across time.

Authors

• Jamie Leach, Mount Saint Vincent University
  Presenting Author

• Nina Howe, Concordia University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ganie B DeHart, State University of New York College at Geneseo (SUNY Geneseo)
  Non-Presenting Author