How Children’s Interactions With Both Parents and Teachers Influence Social Competence Development in Early Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Topic - School Readiness/Childcare

Abstract

Developing social competence in early childhood is related to positive outcomes across multiple domains of functioning, and is shaped in part by the interactions children share with caregivers. These caregiver interactions include those with parents, and as more children enroll in school at earlier ages, those with teachers.
Previous research has suggested that teacher-child closeness and teacher-child interactions characterized by warmth and sensitivity to students’ needs and perspectives relate to greater social competence (Curby et al., 2009). Separate research has suggested that parent-child connectedness and parental discipline that is both gentle and supportive of a child’s autonomy also relate to greater social competence (e.g., Ensor & Hughes, 2008). Connectedness between caregivers and children allows caregivers to stay “in tune” with children’s needs and provide them with appropriate social feedback. Caregiver behavior that supports children’s autonomy shows respect for these young children’s burgeoning sense of self, which helps build trust. This trust, in turn, helps children listen more to the social feedback they receive from this caregiver, which benefits their social competence.
While various studies have shown that interactions with parents and teachers separately impact social competence, few have evaluated the combined influence of these interactions and none have done so using observational measures of children’s individual interactions with a parent and teacher. One study, using self-report from mothers and teachers, found an indirect effect of mother-child interactions on young children’s social competence through teacher-child interactions (Ferreira et al., 2016). Yet, it is unclear whether these links are unique to the type of caregiving measure or whether they exist across measurement type.
Thus, this study used observational measures to explore how children’s individual interactions with parents and teachers at 36 months together relate to children’s interactions with a novel peer at 36 and 60 months. Sixty-nine preschoolers (35 boys, 34 girls) were observed interacting with their mother at home and with their teacher at school at 36 months, and with a different unfamiliar peer in the lab at 36 and 60 months. The sample was drawn from the Temperament over Time Study (TOTS), a longitudinal study from the University of Maryland focused on the development of children identified as positively and negatively reactive to novelty in infancy.
Teacher-child interactions were measured using a modified version of the Observational Ratings of the Caregiver Environment (ORCE; NICHD ECCRN, 1996). Observations of mother-child interactions occurred during various scenarios and focused on mother-child shared affect and maternal discipline. Social competence was determined by children’s behaviors with an unfamiliar peer across free play and special (shared) toy scenarios. Child temperament, gender, and number of siblings were also included as control variables.
Regression analyses revealed a significant interaction effect of maternal and teacher caregiving such that when maternal shared positive affect was low at 36 months, positive teacher-child interactions at 36 months helped children’s social development between 36 months and 60 months. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed, especially for teachers whose students might not be receiving much positive support from their mothers at home.

Authors

• Meredith Karam, Catholic University of America
  Presenting Author

• Kathryn A Degnan, Catholic University of America
  Non-Presenting Author