Peer effects on Head Start children's preschool competency

Dawn DeLay; Laura Hanish; Carol Martin; Richard Fabes

doi:10.1037/dev0000066

Peer effects on Head Start children's preschool competency

Dawn DeLay, Laura Hanish, Carol Martin, Richard Fabes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

The goals of this study were to investigate whether young children attending Head Start (N = 292; M_age = 4.3 years) selected peers based on their preschool competency and whether children's levels of preschool competency were influenced by their peers' levels of preschool competency. Children's peer interaction partners were intensively observed several times a week over 1 academic year. Social network analyses revealed that children selected peer interaction partners with similar levels of preschool competency and were influenced over time by their partners' levels of preschool competency. These effects held even after controlling for several child (e.g., sex and language) and family factors (e.g., financial strain and parent education). Implications for promoting preschool competency among Head Start children are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	58-70
Number of pages	13
Journal	Developmental psychology
Volume	52
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000066
State	Published - Jan 1 2016

Keywords

Peer influence
Peers
Preschool children
Preschool competency
Social networks

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Demography
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Life-span and Life-course Studies

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10.1037/dev0000066

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Peer effects on Head Start children's preschool competency

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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