Korean Journal of Child Studies (아동학회지)

Korean Association of Child Studies (한국아동학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Stability in Friendship Patterns Among Kindergarteners: A Short-Term Longitudinal Study

유아의 친구관계 안정성에 대한 단기 종단적 탐색

  • Park, Mi Hyun (Department of Child & Family Studies, Yonsei University) ;
  • Park, Kyung Ja (Department of Child & Family Studies, Yonsei University)
  • 박미현 (연세대학교 아동.가족학과) ;
  • 박경자 (연세대학교 아동.가족학과)
  • Received : 2015.11.30
  • Accepted : 2016.02.16
  • Published : 2016.02.29
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Objective: This two-wave study examined stability in kindergarteners' friendship patterns over 5 months. Methods: Participants were 501 five-year-old children (262 girls and 239 boys) attending kindergartens in Seoul, Incheon, and Kyounggi provinces in Korea. Each child nominated three individuals as his/her friends in July, and again in December of 2013. Depending on the presence/absence of friendships and the mutuality of identifying friends, the children's friendship patterns were categorized into five groups: stable, fluid, loss, gain, and friendless. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and chi-square tests. Results: Results revealed stability, as well as changes in friendship patterns, among kindergarteners over the 5-month period. The stable friendships, those that maintained the same friend(s) in both waves, was 43.7%, the fluid friendships, those that changed friends over the 5 month period was 18%, the gain friendships, those who had newly developed friends in wave 2 was 17%, and the loss friendships, those who had friends at wave 1 but lost friends at wave 2, was 9.8%. The friendless, those that had no friends in both waves, was 11.5%. Conclusion: Results showed that kindergarteners were capable of maintaining and making new friends over a 5-month period.

Keywords

References

  1. Benenson, J. F., & Christakos, A. (2003). The greater fragility of females' versus males' closest same-sex friendships. Child Development, 74, 1123-1129. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00596
  2. Benjamin, W. J., Schneider, B. H., Greenman, P. S., & Hum, M. (2001). Conflict and childhood friendship in Taiwan and Canada. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 33(3), 203-211. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087142
  3. Berndt, T. J., Hawkins, J. A., & Hoyle, S. G. (1986). Changes in friendship during a school year: Effects on children's and adolescents' impressions of friendship and sharing with friends. Child Development, 57(5), 1284-1297. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130451
  4. Bukowski, W. M., Buhrmester, D., & Underwood, M. K. (2011). Peer relations as a developmental context. In M. K. Underwood, & L. H. Rosen (Eds.), Social development: Relationships in infancy, childhood, and adolescence (pp. 153-179). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  5. Bukowski, W. M., & Newcomb, A. F. (1984). Stability and determinants of sociometric status and friendship choice: A longitudinal perspective. Developmental Psychology, 20(5), 941-952. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.20.5.941
  6. Bukowski, W. M., & Newcomb, A. F., & Hoza, B. (1987). Friendship conceptions among early adolescents: A longitudinal study of stability and change. Journal of Early Adolescence, 7, 143-152. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431687072002
  7. Cairns, R. B., Leung, M. C., Buchanan, L., & Cairns, B. D. (1995). Friendships and social networks in childhood and adolescence: Fluidity, reliability, and interrelations. Child Development, 66(5), 1330-1345. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131650
  8. Cillessen, A. H. N. (2009). Sociometric methods. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 82-99). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  9. Engle, J. M., McElwain, N. L., & Lasky, N. (2011). Presence and quality of kindergarten children's friendships: Concurrent and longitudinal associations with child adjustment in the early school years. Infant and Child Development, 20(4), 365-386. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.706
  10. Erwin, P. (1993). Friendship and peer relations in children. Chichester, UK: Wiley & Sons.
  11. Fabes, R. A., Hanish, L. D., & Martin, C. L. (2003). Children at play: The role of peers in understanding the effects of child care. Child Development, 74(4), 1039-1043. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00586
  12. Furman, W. (1996). The measurement of friendship perceptions: Conceptual and methodological issues. In W. M. Bukowski, A. F .Newcobm, W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 41-65). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
  13. Gershman, E. S., & Hayes, D. S. (1983). Differential stability of reciprocal friendships and unilateral relationships among preschool children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 29(2), 168-177.
  14. Gifford-Smith, M. E., & Brownell, C. A. (2003). Childhood peer relationships: Social acceptance, friendships and peer networks. Journal of School Psychology, 41(4), 235-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(03)00048-7
  15. Gottman, J. M. (1983). How children become friends. Monograhps of the Society for Research in Child Development. 48(3), 1-83.
  16. Hay, D. F., Payne, A., & Chadwick, A. (2004). Peer relations in childhood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(1), 84-108. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0021-9630.2003.00308.x
  17. Howes, C. (1988). Peer interaction of young children. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 53(1), 1-92.
  18. Howes, C. (2009). Friendship in early childhood. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 180-194). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  19. Howes, C., & Phillipsen, L. (1992). Gender and friendship: Relationships with peer groups of young children. Social Development, 1(3), 230-242. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.1992.tb00126.x
  20. Kostelnik, M. J., Whiren, A. P., Soderman, A. K., & Gregory, K. M. (2009). Guiding children's social development and learning (K. J. Park, S, Y, Kim, Y. H. Kwon, & J. H. Kim Trans.). Paju, Korea: Gyomoon publishers. (Original work published 2008)
  21. Ladd, G. W., & Burgess, K. B. (1999). Charting the relationship trajectories of aggressive, withdrawn, and aggressive/withdrawn children during early grade school. Child Development, 70(4), 910-929. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00066
  22. Ladd, G. W., Kochenderfer, B. J., & Coleman, C. C. (1996). Friendship quality as a predictor of young children's early school adjustment. Child Development, 67(3), 1103-1118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131882
  23. Ladd, G. W., & Troop-Gordon, W. (2003). The role of chronic peer difficulties in the development of children's psychological adjustment problems. Child Development, 74(5), 1344-1367. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00611
  24. Lindsey, E. W. (2002). Preschool children's friendships and peer acceptance: Links to social competence. Child Study Journal, 32(3), 145-155.
  25. Martin, C. L., & Fabes, R. A. (2001). The stability and consequences of young children's same-sex peer interactions. Developmental Psychology, 37(3), 431-446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.37.3.431
  26. Mendelson, M. J., Aboud, F. E., & Lanthier, R. P. (1994). Personality predictors of friendship and popularity in kindergarten. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15(3), 413-435. https://doi.org/10.1016/0193-3973(94)90040-X
  27. Newcomb, A. F., & Bagwell, C. L. (1995). Children's friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 306-347. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.2.306
  28. Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1993). Friendship and friendship quality in middle childhood: Links with peer group acceptance and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Developmental Psychology, 29(4), 611-621. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.29.4.611
  29. Poulin, F., & Chan, A. (2010). Friendship stability and change in childhood and adolescence. Developmental Review, 30(3), 257-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.01.001
  30. Proulx, M., & Poulin, F. (2013). Stability and change in kindergarteners' Friendships: Exmination of links with social functioning. Social Development, 22(1), 111-125. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12001
  31. Quinn, M., & Hennessy, E. (2010). Peer relationships across the preschool to school transition. Early Education and Development, 21(6), 825-842. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409280903329013
  32. Roopnarine, J. L., & Field, T. M. (1984). Play interactions of friends and acquaintances in nursey school. In T. Field, J. Roopnarine, & M. Segal (Eds.), Friendships in normal and handicapped children (pp. 89-98). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
  33. Rose-Krasnor, L., & Denham, S. (2009). Social-emotional competence in early childhood. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 162-192). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
  34. Rose, A. J., & Rudolph, K. D. (2006). A review of sex differences in peer relationships processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 98-131. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.98
  35. Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W., & Parker, J. G. (2006). Peer interactions relationships, and groups. In N. Eisenber, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., Vol 3, pp. 571-645). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
  36. Rubin, K. H., Coplan, R. J., Chen, X., Buskirk, A. A., & Wojslawowicz, J. C. (2005). Peer relationships in childhood. In M. H. Bornstein & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental science: An advanced textbook (5th ed., pp. 469-512). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbauum Associates.
  37. Schneider, B. H., Fonzi, A. F., Tani, F., & Tomade, G. (1997). A cross-cultural exploration of the stability of children's friendships and the predictors of their continuation, Social Development, 6(3), 322-339. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.1997.tb00109.x
  38. Sebanc, A. M. (2003). The friendship features of preschool children: Links with prosocial behavior and aggression. Social Development, 12(2), 249-268. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00232
  39. Sebanc, A. M., Kearns, K. T., Hernandez, M. D., & Galvin, K. B. (2007). Predicting having a best friend in young children: Individual characteristics and friendship features. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 168(1), 81-95. https://doi.org/10.3200/GNTP.168.1.81-96
  40. Selman, R. L. (1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding: Developmental and clinical analysis. New York, NY: Academic Press.
  41. Shin, N., Kim, M., Goetz, S., & Vaughn, B. E. (2014). Dyadic analyses of preschool-aged children's friendships: Convergence and differences between friendship classifications from peer sociometric data and teacher's reports. Social Development, 23(1), 178-195. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12043
  42. Vaughn, B. E., Azria, M. R., Krzysik, L., Caya, L. R., Bost, K. K., Newell, W., & Kazura, K. L. (2000). Friendship and social competence in a sample of preschool children attending head start. Developmental Psychology, 36(3), 326-338. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.3.326
  43. Wojslawowicz Bowker, J. C., Rubin, K. H., Burgess, K. B., Booth-LaForce, C., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2006). Behavioral characteristics associated with stable and fluid best friendship patterns in middle childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 52(4), 671-693. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2006.0000

Cited by

  1. Stability and Fluidity in Friendship Patterns of Kindergarteners: Does Children’s Emotion Regulation and Maternal Friendship Management Matters? vol.39, pp.3, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5723/kjcs.2018.39.3.61
  2. Parenting Profiles and Children's Social Skills: The Mediating Role of Effortful Control vol.39, pp.1, 2018, https://doi.org/10.5723/kjcs.2018.39.1.89
  3. Do you want to play with me today? Friendship stability among preschool children vol.27, pp.2, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293x.2019.1579545