Daycare Center Attendance Buffers the Effects of Maternal Authoritarian Parenting Style on Physical Aggression in Children

Prosocial Behavior in Preschoolers: Effects of Early Socialization Experiences With Peers

Over the last decades, many studies had focused on the psychological outcomes of children who have received early socialization outside of the family context, highlighting that the daycare experience can both positively and negatively influence the child’s social-emotional development. Despite the number of studies conducted, there is a lack of observational research on this topic. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the early daycare experience can influence the prosocial behaviors that children exhibit during free-play social interactions with peers, focusing on their quantity and quality. In addition, the associations between the enactment of prosocial behaviors and social-emotional and behavioral competence were investigated. 160 preschoolers, 77 of whom had previously attended daycare, participated in the study and were focally observed during two free play sessions with peers. Each prosocial behavior was identified and subsequently classified using a coding scheme designed to consider the self-initiated or required origin of prosocial actions and their underlying motive. Emotion comprehension was measured using a standardized test, while social-emotional and behavioral competence was assessed using a questionnaire filled out by teachers. The main findings showed that children who had attended daycare had higher anger and aggression scores than those who had not, who, in turn, were rated by their teachers as having more internalizing behaviors. These characteristics seemed to account for the differences found in the tendency to act prosocial acts in response to a peer’s request, which was lower in children who had a previous daycare experience. Moreover, early socialization outside of the family context appeared to foster the comprehension of others’ intent to achieve emotional or instrumental personal goals and, at the same time, to reduce conventional/affiliative prosocial acts. Overall, this study suggested that the incidental effects of daycare on prosocial behavior might be canceled due to the peculiar social-emotional and behavioral characteristics of the two groups of children.

Upstander Intervention and Parenting Styles

Findings from a survey of children and adolescents (N = 645) documents that students witness and experience a range of abuse at home and at school. Participants freely acknowledged pushing or shoving (46%) and slapping or hitting peers (40%). The study contributes to the literature by focusing on upstanding (active versus passive bystander intervention) and parenting styles. Findings reveal an interesting disconnect between those who say they will intervene when confronted by friends' or peers' bullying behaviors and those who actually have intervened. Children and adolescents with authoritarian parents are more likely to say they would intervene to help peers, but when asked if they actually have done so, they are the least likely to follow-through. In contrast, children with authoritative or permissive parents show the opposite pattern: No significant difference in their intent to intervene, but they are more likely to become upstanders, rather than passive bystanders when actually confronted with bullying behavior.