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Building Relationships: Effects of a Teacher-Directed, Peer-Pairing Intervention on Children’s Peer Networks

Sat, March 23, 8:00 to 9:30am, Hilton Baltimore, Floor: Level 2, Key 10

Integrative Statement

When children have inclusive relationships with their classmates, academic outcomes are improved. We used a quasi-experimental design to assess the effects of a peer-pairing intervention designed to strengthen ties among classmates. The intervention drew on the intergroup contact hypothesis, which posits that positive interactions with outgroup members lead to improved attitudes that support relationship-building with diverse peers (Allport, 1954) and empirical studies showing the efficacy of peer-pairing interventions in strengthening relationships for at-risk populations (Hektner et al., 2003). Grounded in social network theory (Borgatti et al., 2009), we focused on strengthening ties among all peers, including those who are least likely to interact with each other, such as other-gender peers.

We hypothesized that the intervention would create more inclusive networks. In the current study, we assessed this using several network measures: (1) children’s enhanced tendency to interact with peers, (2) increases in children’s interactions with peers with whom the child has not previously interacted, and (3) greater engagement with both same- and other-gender peers. We also tested for gender moderation.

Participants were 137 preschoolers (53% male, Mage = 56.46 months, 77% Latinx) in 8 classrooms that were randomized to intervention or control conditions for one semester. Following a two-week pretest at the beginning of the semester, teachers in intervention classrooms paired each child with a different classmate, and the pairs engaged in fun interactive activities together at least four days/week. Peer partners were rotated at the beginning of each week. Teachers prioritized other-gender pairings when possible and integrated the peer pairing activities into classroom routines and learning goals. Data were collected throughout the semester via 10-second scan observations collected 2-3 days each week of children’s free-play interaction partners (excluding teacher-designated peer-pairing activities; kappas > .80).

ANCOVAs were conducted that controlled for number of observations per child, social competence (measured with a 4-item teacher report), age, and ethnicity. Findings revealed that exposure to the peer-pairing intervention (relative to no exposure to the intervention) was related to increases in children’s tendency to engage in social interactions, F(1, 241) = 24.51, p < .001, their engagement with unfamiliar peers, F(1, 241) = 35.36, p < .001, and their engagement with both same- and other-gender peers, F(1, 241) = 14.45, p < .001 and F(1, 241) = 9.11, p = .003, respectively (see Table 1). In addition, gender moderated the intervention effect on engagement with same-gender peers, F(1, 241) = 4.53, p = .03, ηp2 = .02. Boys (but not girls) interacted with same-gender peers more when exposed to the intervention than when not exposed to the intervention, Mdiff = 4.23, p < .001 and Mdiff = 1.20, p = .26 for boys and girls, respectively.

Overall, findings show initial support for the idea that a peer-pairing intervention can affect peer interactions and networks among classmates. Discussion will include the implications for enhancing classroom networks by creating more inclusive and diverse social networks, which will, in turn, inform next analytic steps in the network informed peer-pairing intervention.

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