Nuno Torres

Quality of attachment to father and mother and number of reciprocal friends

Attachment research suggests that children with secure attachments are more able to construct meaningful relationships with peers. Few studies, however, have attempted to map early attachment security to the formation and maintenance of preschool friendships. Special attention has been paid to affiliative relationships (particularly friendships) because these are presumed to be of special importance with respect to a number of developmental outcomes and social adjustment indices. This study examined the relations between mother–child and father–child attachment relationships using the attachment Q‐sort (AQS) and the number of reciprocated friendships of preschool children. Thirty‐five mother–child and father–child dyads from bi‐parental families participated in the study. Children were between 29 and 38 months of age for the first assessment. The organisation of children’s secure base behaviour with both parents was assessed from separate observations of the child and parent at home. Subsequently, sociometric measures were used at four years of age to determine peer preferences. The correlation between the independent AQS scores for fathers and mothers was positive and significant (r = .51, p < .05). Thus, there was consistency in child secure base behaviour across visits with each parent. Bivariate correlation and regression analyses showed a significant positive relation between AQS security with fathers (but not with mothers) and the number of reciprocated friendships (r = .43, p < .05). Regression analyses indicated that AQS security with fathers remained a significant predictor of friendships even when AQS security with mothers was controlled. These findings may indicate a distinct relational effect of interaction quality with the father.

Domains of father involvement, social competence and problem behavior in preschool children

Abstract Many studies reported that father involvement is associated with a wide range of developmental outcomes; however, evidence is weaker when controlling for correlated mother involvement and when using different informants to assess father involvement and children development. Our study aimed to research the association between father involvement and preschoolers’ social competence, controlling for mother involvement, family demographics, parental stress, time spent in day-care, existence of siblings and child’s characteristics. Participants were 295 children between 36 and 71 months of age, 52% girls, all living in resident-father families. Hierarchical multiple regression models were performed entering the predictors in three blocks: Child related variables, family demographics and stress, father relative involvement with the child. Results suggest that father involvement in leisure activities outdoors is a direct predictor of social competence, and also of lower externalizing problems, especially for boys.

Father involvement and peer play competence in preschoolers: The moderating effect of the child's difficult temperament

This article focuses on the association between the relative involvement of the father with preschool children in two-parent families, individual characteristics of children (age, gender, and difficult temperament) and the childrens peer play competence. Relative involvement of the father was assessed using The Parental Involvement: Care and Socialization Questionnaire composed of five subscales: Direct Care, Indirect Care, Teaching/Discipline, Play and Leisure Outdoors. Interactive peer play competence was assessed using the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), with three subscales: Play Interaction, Play Disruption and Play Disconnection. Parental assessment of the childs temperament was made using the preschool version of the Infant Characteristics Questionnaires (ICQ) subscale of Difficult Temperament. Multiple regression ordinary least squares (OLS) models showed that boys and children with difficult temperament tend to show more play disruption and less play interaction, and also that difficult temperament was a moderator of the association between the relative father involvement in Direct Care, Play and Teaching/Discipline activities and individual differences in peer play Disruption and Interaction. Higher levels of relative father involvement in Direct Care and Play with temperamentally difficult children were associated with more disruptive play with peers, and higher levels of relative father involvement in Teaching/Discipline with difficult children was associated with more play Interaction. The discussion elaborates on the differential styles of Interaction by fathers and mothers with temperamentally difficult children.

Quantity of group child care, behavior problems, and prosocial behaviors : A study with portuguese preschoolers

Research Findings: Data from a national sample of Portuguese preschool centers were used to examine the relationship between age of start and number of hours in child care and levels of externalizing and prosocial behaviors with peers. Participants were both parents and teachers of 543 children (mean age = 4.5 years, 50.6% girls). Children started child care between 3 and 64 months and were attending child care 1–9 hr per day. The child care centers’ classrooms had adult–child ratios between 5 and 8.7 and group sizes between 15 and 26 children. Externalizing and prosocial behavior with peers was assessed with the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale–Short Form completed by the 3 adult informants. Control variables included family sociodemographics and education level, maternal parenting style assessed with the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, and maternal stress assessed with the Parenting Experiences questionnaire. Practice or Policy: Both the number of hours per week in child care and an earlier start of center-based child care had modest but significant associations with dimensional scores from teachers’ reports of externalizing behavior but not with mothers’ or fathers’ reports, suggesting that externalizing behavior with peers could be regarded as context specific to peer relationships in group child care. There was no evidence that the quantity of exposure to child care per se could be a substantial risk factor for severe levels of externalizing behavior. Prosocial behavior with peers was not significantly associated with the number of hours in child care or with the age of entry into group child care.

How do hypothalamic nonapeptides shape youth’s sociality? A systematic review on oxytocin, vasopressin and human socio-emotional development

HighlightsLittle attention has been given to the role of nonapeptides in early human sociability.Evidence is suggestive of their contribution to different dimensions of normal and pathological socio‐affective functioning.The field may benefit from standardization of procedures and techniques.Differences between life stages may exist and should be described.This knowledge may inform drug development in paediatric populations. &NA; The hypothalamic nonapeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are important modulators of socio‐affective behaviours in a wide variety of animal species, including humans. Nevertheless, there is little research addressing their possible roles on socio‐affective dimensions of human behaviour across development, during which considerable behavioural and physiological change occurs. Questions still remain about the extent to which findings from adults may directly apply to earlier phases of human development. In this article, we systematically summarize and discuss all existing studies investigating the developmental association of endogenous levels of hypothalamic neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin with human social behaviour or on its disruption in paediatric populations. Evidence is sparse insofar as there are still relatively few developmental studies and limited due to correlational research designs and unreliability of methods currently used for neuropeptide measurements in biological fluids. The findings to date generally converge with adult evidence, but also suggest that important differences between age stages may exist. Further studies focusing these differences may prove critical for informing drug development for socio‐affective deficits in paediatric populations.

O reduzido envolvimento social: implicações para o ajustamento psicossocial de crianças em contexto pré-escolar

Low social engagement, a central feature of the definition of solitude, was examined in a sample of 337 Portuguese children (171 boys), ages ranging between 3 and 5 years. Based on observation measures, collected in school settings, Low Social Engagement was negatively associated with a broad range of adaptive outcomes, including social competence, ego-resilience as well as higher levels of ego-undercontrol. Negative associations were also found with sociometric measures of peer acceptance, social impact and preference. The results reflect these childrens difficulties in the social domain and stress the potential risk factor of social solitude for their healthy development.

Quality of play, social acceptance and reciprocal friendship in preschool children

ABSTRACT Playing with peers is one of the most important contexts for the acquisition of social competencies in early childhood. This study examined the relation between children’s play behavior, social acceptance in the peer group, and number of reciprocal friendships. One hundred and twenty eight children, aged between three and five years, participated in the study. Social acceptance and number of reciprocal friendships were assessed using two sociometric measures: nomination and comparison among peers. Children’s behavior during play activities was assessed by a Portuguese version of the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Global results showed positive and significant correlations between positive interaction and sociometric measures, indicating that children who manifest positive play behaviors are more accepted by peers and have more reciprocal friendships. On the other hand, play disruption and disconnection were negatively correlated with sociometric measures, indicating that children who show these types of play behaviors have lower social acceptance and fewer reciprocal friendships. Parsing the correlations by the three age groups, results show distinct patterns of associations between quality of play, social acceptance and friendship in function of age. Our results stress that already at an early age, behavior during play is related to friendship and social reputation.