Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creating Informal Play Opportunities: Are Parents' And Preschoolers' Initiations Related To Children's Competence With Peers?, Gary W. Ladd, Craig H. Hart

Faculty Publications

Preschoolers' social competence may depend on the frequency with which informal play activities are initiated by parents', children, and playmates. In this study, measures ofchildren's peer relations in informal and school contexts and the frequency of parents', children's, and peers' play initiations were obtained with 83 preschool children and their families on 2 occasions. Frequent parent initiations were associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior, lower levels of nonsocial behavior and, among boys, greater peer acceptance in preschool. Children who were more initiating of informal peer contacts displayed less anxious behavior in school and were better liked by their classmates. …