The style and content of maternal consulting: Predictors of kindergarten children's peer competence?

The purpose of this study, conducted with 188 kindergarten children and their mothers, was to determine whether the style and content of mothers' consulting about peer relations predicted various aspects of children's social competence at school. Mothers and their children discussed problems that the children had actually experienced with peers. These consulting sessions were videotaped in families' homes, and data on children's competence was gathered from several sources at the children's schools. Results indicated that the style of mothers' consulting emerged as the strongest predictor of children's peer status and number of mutual best friend nominations. In addition, the content of mothers' consulting was associated with children's asocial behavior, exclusion by peers, hyperactive-distractible behavior, and perceptions of peer support. The findings highlight the importance of considering both the style and content of mothers' consulting when predicting children's social competence with peers.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio