Emotional Expressiveness during Peer Conflicts:

A Predictor of Social Maladjustment among High-Risk Preschoolers

Alison L. Miller, Sheryl L. Olson

 

“Children, particularly boys, from low-income families are found to be at risk for emotional and behavioral problems, thus it is particularly essential to investigate how these children regulate their emotions in challenging situations such as conflicts” (p.4).  Research has found that high emotional intensity is associated with negative peer relations while at risk children have the potential to develop problems such as: poor school outcomes, peer rejection, behavior problems, and psychosocial maladjustment. Why is this important?  Because learning to manage peer conflict effectively is an important developmental aspect for children and it is a good predictor of how well they will adapt socially and emotionally to new people, situations and future experiences.

                A child who displays a high level of emotional intensity my show signs of disorganization, anger, confusion, aggression and hyperactivity, whereas a child with a low or adequate level of emotional intensity has the ability to regulate emotions and use problem-solving skills in conflict situations.  “The preschool context poses important challenges for young children, particularly children who are living in adverse circumstances such as poverty” (p.13).  This information is important when considering low-income children whose home environment may not be conducive to adequate socialization factors.  These children have a much more difficult time with the transition into preschool than a child from a family with a higher income level. 

                In this study, sixty 4-to 5-year-old boys from low-income families were videotaped with a small group of classmates in a Head Start preschool classroom at two different times during the year. Emotional displays were coded as: anger, mild positive, gleeful taunting, mild negative, and neutral.  The findings of the study suggest that emotional displays during conflicts were related to who had initiated the conflict.  Children who showed happiness in aggression (gleeful taunting) were more likely to initiate aggression towards others while children who showed anger were more likely to be the recipients of aggression, not the initiator.

   Knowing that children living in poverty display risk factors associated with these outcomes is beneficial information to parents, teachers and students.  It allows for appropriate intervention methods before and during times of conflict while opening a line of communication afterwards.  It can also be helpful when addressing the reasons why aggressive children result to conflict as a means of problem solving and how this relates to their home environment.  Because differences that arise during times of conflict influence a child’s future social adjustment, “understanding whether a child’s conflict emotions relate to negative peer perceptions could facilitate preventative efforts to avoid escalation of problems that tend to follow negative social status markers”(p. 2).

Reference:

Olson, S. L., & Miller, A. L. (2000).  Emotional expressiveness during peer conflicts: A predictor of social maladjustment among 

      high-risk preschoolers.  Journal of Abnormal Psychology: Emotional Expressiveness.  Retrieved October 10, 2003, from

      http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0902/is_4_28/ai_64825070/print   

 

 

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