Positive Emotionality and Adjustment in Children: The Effects of Peer Emotionality

1. Socially Developed Prosocial Interactive .64*** .80*** .71*** .19* Matched PE Positive Adjustment -.17* .91*** .92*** Effortful Control Cooperative .15* -.96*** Hyperactive Excluded Anger .64*** .86*** -.07 .86*** Negative Adjustment Independent PE .02 .88*** .71*** Disruptive Disconnected Positive Emotionality and Adjustment in Children: The Effects of Peer Emotionality Matthew D. DiDonato, Julie V. Sallquist, Laura D. Hanish, Carol Lynn Martin, & Richard A. Fabes Arizona State University Proportion Scores Present Study • Matched PE • The number of times the child and his/her peer matched in PE divided by the number of observations in which the child exhibited PE • Independent PE • The number of times the child displayed PE divided by the number of interactions with peers The links between positive emotionality (PE) and adjustment in children are inconsistent. Some studies show relations between PE and social functioning (Fabes & Eisenberg, 1992), whereas others have been unsuccessful in replicating these findings (Kim, Walden, Harris, Karrass, & Catron, 2007). A potential limitation of this work is its focus on children’s PE independent of the emotions of their peers. Some researchers suggest that PE is a social phenomenon (Parkinson, 1996); therefore, more consistency may result from examining children’s PE in relation to that of their peers. In the present study, we examined preschool children’s matched (i.e., their PE was reciprocated by their peer) and independent (i.e., their PE independent from that of their peers) PE in relation to several measures of their psychological adjustment. Results Correlations showed that children’s PE that was matched by their peers was significantly related to several measures of adjustment, whereas displays of PE without regard to peers’ emotion were not Structural equation modeling confirmed the correlational findings, showing that children’s matched PE, and not PE considered independently from peers’ emotions, was significantly related to adjustment Method • Participants • 166 preschool children (90 boys) from 11 Head Start classrooms • M age = 52 months • 74% Hispanic • Majority from low income families • Procedures • Children were observed biweekly for an entire school year • Each observation spanned 10 seconds • Children’s PE and that of their peers were recorded • M number of observations = 116; Range = 16 – 462 • Measures • Positive Adjustment: prosocial behavior, peer interactions, • social development, effortful control, and cooperation • Negative Adjustment: hyperactivity, exclusion, anger, • internalizing, externalizing Conclusions The results show that young children’s PE is related to their adjustment when their PE is matched by that of their peers, but not when the children’s PE is considered independently. If the recipient expresses PE in response to the child’s initial PE, the social interaction will likely be a positive one and thus promote social affiliation between the children (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001). This social connectedness fosters the development of meaningful relationships and promotes positive adjustment (Papa & Bonanno, 2008). These findings underscore the importance of simultaneously examining both the child’s and his/her peers’ emotional responses.A potential limitation of the present study was the use of several adjustment measures that were peer oriented (e.g., cooperation, prosocial behavior, exclusion). Future work should aim to examine the relation between matched and independent PE and a wider variety of adjustment constructs. This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1 R01 HD45816) and by the T. Denny Sanford Foundation.