Exuberant children and their peer relationships
Date
2010
Authors
Smalley, Carrie Bongberg, author
Barrett, Karen Caplovitz, advisor
Youngblade, Lise M. (Lise Marie), committee member
Rosén, Lee, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
The current study examined exuberant young children and their relationships with peers. 41 children between the ages of four and six were recruited from Fort Collins, Colorado and 13 of these children were found to be exuberant. Children were classified as exuberant if they scored in the top tercile of an aggregate of certain emotions subscales and certain emotion regulation subscales on the Children;s Behavior Questionnaire and the Emotions Questionnaire. To determine with whom the children preferred to play, they completed a sociometric picture measure where they categorized their peers' photos into three categories: "I like to play with", "I kind of like to play with", and "I do not like to play with". The results indicated that middle children had a significantly higher percentage of friends who were exuberant than exuberant children did. There were no significant differences in other analyses regarding the peer relationships of exuberant children. The results indicate that more research with larger samples is needed in order to investigate the nature of friendships in exuberant children.
Description
Department Head: Lise Marie Youngblade.