School Engagement and Peer Acceptance in Kindergarten: The Role of Stable Friendships

• In Event: Teacher-Student and Peer Relationships as Learning Contexts

Abstract

Healthy friendships and good peer relations are strong predictors of success in elementary school (Wentzel & Caldwell, 2006). In fact, from as early as kindergarten, students show more engagement in their learning when they are more accepted by their peers (Ladd et al., 1996). However, little is known about how children influence one another on these educational and social outcomes over time. The present study aimed to assess how mutual best friends influenced each other’s school engagement and peer acceptance over the course of one year in kindergarten.

Data was collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study designed to investigate the impact of friendships on student engagement in elementary school. Our sample consisted of kindergarten students who were paired into 100 mutual best friend dyads, 47 of which were stable friendships from the beginning to the end of kindergarten. The Friendship Features Interview for Young Children (Ladd et al., 1996) was used to assess the quality of each friendship. Students’ school engagement was measured using teacher reports, and children’s peer acceptance was measured using a peer nomination process, in which children were asked to identify who they like to play with in their class. Data was analyzed using bivariate actor-partner interdependence models, in which we assessed school engagement and peer acceptance for both members of each dyad at T1 (i.e., beginning of kindergarten) and at T2 (i.e., the end of kindergarten).

Actor-partner interdependence model results indicated that there was a partner-effect over time, though only when friendships were stable. Specifically, when a child was more accepted by his or her peers at T1, their best friend had greater peer acceptance at T2 (β=.191, SE= .087). There were also actor effects over time that were found regardless of friendship stability. Specifically, when a child was more engaged with their schoolwork at T1, they were more accepted by their peers and more engaged in their schoolwork at T2 (β=.283, SE=.060; β= .746, SE=.043). An additional set of analyses were conducted to assess whether friendship quality was related to partner effects over time, though no significant effects emerged.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate how friends influence each other in school engagement and peer acceptance over time. In all, our findings suggest that the degree to which kindergarten friends influence one another throughout the school year depends partially on the stability of their friendship, but not its quality. Specifically, friendships that lasted the entire school year were highlighted by mutual increases over time in peer acceptance, but not school engagement. Although it seems counterintuitive, our results revealed that only 64% of stable dyads were high in friendship quality. This raises the question of what other factors contribute to friendship stability, and how these factors relate to children’s social and educational development. We discuss possible answers to these questions, as well as potential next steps for future research.

Authors

• Philip MacGregor, University of Ottawa
  Presenting Author

• Fanny-Alexandra Guimond, University of Ottawa
  Non-Presenting Author

• Marie-Claude Salvas, University of Quebec in Outaouais
  Non-Presenting Author

• Frank Vitaro, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stephane Cantin, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author