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Inhibition in Toddlerhood and the Dynamics of the Child's Interaction with an Unfamiliar Peer at Age Five
Author(s) -
Kochanska Grazyna,
RadkeYarrow Marian
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb01630.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , social relation , behavioral inhibition , affect (linguistics) , peer group , social behavior , social influence , social psychology , communication , anxiety , psychiatry
Measures of inhibition to social and nonsocial unfamiliar events, obtained in toddlerhood, were studied as predictors of social behaviors during an interaction with an unfamiliar peer in 100 5‐year‐old children. Social inhibition predicted a highly shy and inhibited behavioral pattern with peer and less frequent expression of affect during fantasy play; nonsocial inhibition predicted decreased involvement in group play. Analysis of the changing dynamics of the ongoing peer interaction revealed that the role of child inhibition as a predictor of social behavior may be mostly evident during the initial encounter with the peer. Children who as toddlers were particularly socially inhibited, during the initial phase of peer interaction showed a significantly stronger pattern of shy and inhibited behavior and proximity to mother. In contrast to existing evidence that maternal depression may be a risk factor for the child's long‐term peer relationships, no differences in social behavior were found between children of normal and affectively ill mothers during a brief encounter with unfamiliar peers.