Fearful temperament moderates the association between positive parenting and children's social competence during early childhood

Fearful temperament moderates the association between positive parenting and children's social competence during early childhood" (2015). Abstract Social competence during kindergarten has been linked to adaptive teacher-child and peer relationships. The quality of parents' interaction with their children during the toddler years may promote better social development placing children on a trajectory towards social competence. Quite possibly, children vary in how responsive they are to parenting efforts. This study evaluated the extent to which positive parenting predicted change in social competence from child age 3 to 4 among 137 parent-child dyads. Observational measures of positive parenting and fearful temperament were analyzed when children were 3-years of age. Teacher reports of social competence in the classroom were collected during the children's 4-year old assessment. Positive parenting was positively associated with children's level of social competence. No evidence emerged of fearful temperament as a moderator for the association between positive parenting and social competence. Regardless of children's temperament, all children benefit from positive parenting during early childhood. Social competence has been defined as effectiveness in social interactions (Rose-Krasnor, 1997). Children considered socially competent display the social skills necessary to engage in and sustain positive reciprocal interactions with peers and teachers (Howes & Phillipsen, 1998). competent children tend to be more well-liked by teachers and peers, have more friends, and receive more positive attention from teachers than children lacking social skills (Hamre & rated as more prosocial during the preschool and kindergarten years have been found to demonstrate more academic success during the elementary school years (Izard et al. The toddler years may be a particularly important time to study the emergence of social competence. During the toddler years, children's social environment largely consists of parents and siblings. Parents increasingly expect children to be able to regulate and manage their negative emotions and conflicts (e.g., Kopp, 1989). Children with siblings at home may have extra advantages in learning social skills for two reasons. First, children with siblings spend large amounts of time with each other and frequently engage in shared and coordinated play (e.g., Cutting & Dunn, 2006). The frequency with which children with siblings interact provides ample opportunities for children to practice negotiating and resolving play disputes. Second, since conflicts between siblings tend to occur frequently, parents have a number of opportunities to 2 Parents' early interactions with their children may provide meaningful experiences that instill appropriate social behavior. Theoretically, positive parenting …