Children’s psychosocial functioning in is known to be influenced by parental emotion discussion in early childhood. However, the associations between parental emotion discussion and children’s...Show moreChildren’s psychosocial functioning in is known to be influenced by parental emotion discussion in early childhood. However, the associations between parental emotion discussion and children’s psychosocial functioning have mainly been studied in the typically hearing (TH) population of children. Little is known about this association in the deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) child population, who tend to be at risk of having lower psychosocial functioning. Our study investigated the impact of parental emotion discussion on three areas of DHH and TH children’s psychosocial functioning (externalizing behavior, peer problems, and prosocial behavior) with a cross-sectional study design using parent report data on 215 preschoolers aged 1–7.5 years (49.3% girls, 88 DHH). Contrary to what was previously reported in the literature, we found that DHH and TH children did not differ in psychosocial functioning, nor did their parents differ in their level of emotion discussion with their children. In line with previous research, our results indicated that more parental emotion discussion was related to less externalizing, and more prosocial behavior in their children, but no association was found between parental emotion discussion and peer problems in the children. Furthermore, the hearing status of the children did not affect the associations between parental emotion discussion and children’s psychosocial functioning in our study. Future studies should address the heterogeneity of the DHH population and their families, and clinical focus should be placed to optimize family based early intervention programs for DHH youth.Show less
A majority of research in social sciences has been focused on peer preference throughout childhood and adolescence. Different factors have been found to be related to peer preference such as...Show moreA majority of research in social sciences has been focused on peer preference throughout childhood and adolescence. Different factors have been found to be related to peer preference such as emotion recognition, empathy, and prosocial behavior. In addition, prior research has shown possible sex differences regarding peer preference and the mechanisms and factors that influence how girls and boys choose which peers they prefer. In the present study participated 135 normally developing preschoolers, aged three to five, from different areas of Portugal, with the aim to investigate the socio-emotional factors that are related to peer preference. In detail, data for peer preference were gathered through the use of peer nomination techniques. Data on emotion recognition, empathy, and prosocial behavior- the social-emotional factors in this research- were gathered with parent questionnaires. The results were not as expected, as there were no correlations found between peer preference with empathy and prosocial behavior in the sample. However, a small negative correlation was found between peer preference and emotion recognition. Furthermore, none of the three factors could predict peer preference. Lastly, there were no significant differences between boys and girls regarding the relationship of preference with emotion recognition, empathy, and prosocial behavior. There is a possibility that the results were unexpected as the measuring techniques that were used were inappropriate for the variables that needed to be measured. Additionally, the cognitive and emotional level of preschoolers might not be yet advanced to the degree that is required to demonstrate empathy and prosocial behavior at a level that will influence the formation of peer preference. Still, peer preference during preschool years is of the utmost importance as it influences not only the present developmental level but also the future socio-emotional development of children.Show less
