Speakers
Description
This symposium draws together research conducted by colleagues based in six different countries with a shared focus on peer-directed aggression in pre-school and the early years of school (between 3 and 7 years). There has been comparatively less focus on peer-aggression during this period compared with bullying among older age-groups.
The papers presented in this symposium examine some of the risk/ protective factors for children’s involvement in peer-aggression at this age including executive functioning and theory of mind (Caput Langlois et al.,) social skills and family factors (Uysal Bayrak et al.,) as well as the importance of considering cultural differences in risk/protective factors (Uysal Bayrak et al.,). The third paper in the symposium (Rix & Monks) highlights the ability of young participants to provide perspectives on their own experiences in relation to peer-aggression through the use of appropriate methodologies. The final two papers focus on intervention and prevention programmes focussed on peer-aggression among this age-group. Lee and Lee report on the development of a new intervention/prevention programme using restorative approaches and the potential for this approach with young children. The final paper (Monks et al.,) reports on a systematic review and meta-analysis of programmes based in schools and pre-schools aimed at reducing aggressive behaviour among young children.
Taken together, the papers presented in this symposium highlight the importance of focussing research on this age-group and the potential for intervention and prevention programmes with young children to have a positive effect on reducing peer-aggression.
Additional field for symposia
Paper 1
Social behaviour and peer victimisation profiles at school entry: The interplay between preschool executive functions and theory of mind
Sophie Chaput-Langlois1, 2, 3, Sophie Parent1, 2, Natalie Castellanos-Ryan1, 2, Sophie Jacques4, Phil D. Zelazo5, & Jean R. Séguin2, 6
1School of Psychoeducation, Université de Montréal, Canada; 2CHU Sainte-Justine Azrieli Research Centre, Canada; 3Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada; 4Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Canada; 5Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, USA; 6Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal, Canada
sophie.chaput-langlois@umontreal.ca
Executive functions (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) have been associated with more aggressive behaviours and being victimised by peers, but also with more prosocial behaviour. However, studies show that some prosocial children are also aggressive, highlighting the need to simultaneously consider the full range of behaviours that children can exhibit. As such, the current study aims to understand how preschool executive function and theory of mind predict different patterns of children’s social behaviours and peer victimisation in kindergarten using person-centred methods.
This study analysed 161 boys and 180 girls from a Canadian birth cohort. They completed four EF tasks at 42 months, measuring cognitive flexibility, working memory, and complex EF, and one first-order ToM task at 60 months, measuring false-belief and perspective-taking. Multinomial logistic regressions were computed in two steps: 1) the direct associations between EF, ToM, and the latent profile membership of children’s social behaviour (5 profiles based on physical aggression, relational aggression, peer victimisation, prosocial behaviour, established in a previous study); 2) the addition of the interaction between EF and ToM.
Results showed that high EF predicted membership to the prosocial profile over all other while ToM did not show any significant direct associations. Multiple significant interactions were found, generally showing that children with high EF and ToM were more likely to be in the prosocial or socially aggressive profiles. In some cases, low ToM also seemed to blunt the advantages of high EF, showing how EF and ToM can interact to predict young children’s social experiences (250 words).
Paper 2
Peer Aggression in Early Childhood: A Sample of Turkiye and England
Hatice Uysal Bayrak1, Claire P. Monks2, & Amy Moon2
1 Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Turkey
2 University of Greenwich, London, England
huysal@ohu.edu.tr
The aim of this study was to compare the nature of peer aggression among young children in England and Turkiye. In addition, we examined the relation between children's involvement in peer aggression and their social problem-solving skills, parental protective factors as well as family welfare between the two countries.
148 British and 115 Turkish children aged 4-6 years participated in this study. Children’s social problem-solving was assessed using a cartoon task (Yılmaz & Tepeli, 2013. Parents/carers reported on parental protective factors and family welfare in their own family using the IFPF (Gardner et al., 2008) and the BCAP (Walker & Davies, 2012). Teachers assessed the social behaviours of the children in their class including physical and relational aggression using the PSBS-TF (Crick et al., 1997).
Multiple linear regressions indicated that predictive models for physical aggression explain almost one third of the variance, and for relational aggression explain one-quarter of the variance. There were differences between the protective and risk factors for the two forms of aggression. Furthermore, there were some commonalities between the predictive patterns found in the two countries, but also some differences.
The findings suggest that it is important to look at the different forms of aggression separately and highlight the importance of cultural differences. It would be convenient to start a line of studies on bullying among children taking into account sociocultural indicators, as is being done regarding other violent and/or psychological phenomena in adults (238 words).
Paper 3:
Exploring 4 - 7 year olds’ self-reports of victimisation experiences
Katie Rix1, Claire P. Monks2
1The Open University, Milton Keynes, England
2 University of Greenwich, London, England
Katie.rix@open.ac.uk
Young children’s victimisation plays an important role in their experiences and outcomes, such as internalising difficulties and academic achievement. Children aged 4 to 7 years should have the necessary cognitive capacity (e.g. Executive Function, Sense of Self, Theory of Mind) to provide self-reports of their peer relations and experiences but most studies make use of reports from adults and peers, rather than self-reports. Research (e.g. Rix, 2015) has also shown that, with appropriate methods, they are able to provide unique insight that others cannot offer. This presentation discusses the results of a study which compared self-reports and teacher-reports of victimisation experiences amongst 193 children aged 4 – 7 years, using a series of novel stick-figure animations. Our findings show that children’s self-reports of victimisation are complex, and more individualised than reports from their class teachers, and self-reports of other behaviours (such as aggression and prosocial behaviour). Our findings have important implications for research, practice, and policy, and highlight the usefulness of including children’s self-reports and insights when understanding their victimisation experiences. In addition, we will present the results of a follow-up pilot study, in which young children self-reported their victimisation experiences; contributed their views on how these compare to reports from their teachers and peers; and discussed why these may be similar / different. This pilot study helps to understand the implications of our earlier findings, as well as paves the way for research considering this on a larger scale (239 words).
Paper 4:
Development and application of the program for promoting young children’s positive peer relationships based on restorative justice approach
Seung-ha Lee¹, Hae-min Lee1
¹Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea.
seungha94@cau.ac.kr
Restorative approaches are effective for increasing children’s positive behaviors and preventing bullying in schools, though they are seldom applied to young children. This study aimed to develop and implement a program for promoting positive peer relationships and preventing bullying in early childhood.
To create program content, existing restorative and social-emotional learning programs were reviewed, and 10 experts validated the content using the Delphi method. Two kindergarten classes in Seoul, South Korea, participated: an experimental group (N=19) and a comparison group (N=21). The program, implemented over seven weeks, included 12 integrated classroom activities (e.g., games, storytelling, art, circle time) and 8 home activities. Pre- and post-tests of social behavior were conducted, and classroom observations were made.
While no significant differences in social behavior were observed between the experimental and comparison groups, qualitative findings were noteworthy. Through various activities and circle time, children began to recognize the importance of identifying their own and others’ emotions and listening to others. Restorative circle time, in particular, provided children the opportunity to reflect on aggressive or inappropriate behaviors toward peers. They gradually expressed their own emotions, understood others’ emotions and intentions, and appreciated the value of forgiveness, all of which appeared to foster a sense of community.
This study demonstrated that restorative approaches can be applied to young children. Such practices may be a valuable way to help children understand their emotions and behaviors, potentially contributing to the resolution of peer conflicts and the reduction of bullying in the classroom. (245 words)
Paper 5:
A systematic review and meta-analysis of school-based interventions to reduce aggression in 3-6 year olds
Claire P. Monks1, Maria Sánchez Zafra2, Amy Moon1, Hatice Uysal Bayrak3, Kat Kucaba1 & Rosario Ortega Ruiz1,2
1 University of Greenwich, London, England
2 University of Córdoba, Spain
3 Nigde Omer Halisdemir University, Turkey
c.p.monks@gre.ac.uk
This paper reports on a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions aimed at decreasing aggressive behaviour among 3 to 6 year-olds. This is the age at which most children start some form of out-of-home pre-school or schooling in most countries. The search included interventions which were based in schools or pre-schools and were focussed on non-clinical populations. Schools-based programmes were chosen as they have been found to be effective in older groups and may be easier to roll-out to a larger population.
Searches were conducted in WoS and EBSCO-Host in March 2024. Initial searches retrieved 2860 papers after duplicates were deleted. Following initial review, 147 papers were sought for retrieval. After these were scrutinised by at least 2 members of the team, 88 papers were reviewed in full for the systematic review.
In this paper we report on the meta-analysis of papers which included outcomes based on child-reported data. The meta-analysis included 27 evaluations where we could access information essential to calculate effect sizes either from the paper itself or by contacting the authors. The meta-analysis yielded 59 effect sizes from the dependent variables and indicated a medium and significant effect (d = 0.75) and 95% of the research demonstrated an improvement at post-test compared with pre-test.
The paper indicates that intervention and prevention work may be beneficial at this point in development and can have some positive effects on behaviour. We discuss some of the limitations of the study as well as some potential future directions for programme development (250 words).
Keywords
young children; peer-aggression; family; social cognition; interventions
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
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| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Mixed method study |
