1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The of [sic] aim of the current study was to extend previous literature on children’s social-emotional development by examining children’s co-construction of shared meanings and ISL [internal state language] used during episodes of pretend play. The unique feature of this study was the examination of these constructs in two relationship contexts; the sibling relationship and friendship.» (p. 19)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«The primary research question regarded children’s overall co-construction of shared meaning strategies employed during play with siblings and friends. In other words, do the focal children employ more overall strategies with their sibling or friend? [...] The second research question aimed to investigate whether the focal children would employ more ISL (dependent variable) in the play session with their sibling or friend (independent variable)? [...] The third research question aimed to ascertain the relationship between the shared meaning strategies and ISL employed by the focal children in the sibling session and peer session.» (p. 20-21)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The present study is using the first of two time points from a previously collected, longitudinal data set examining sibling and friend interaction in early (time one) and middle (time two) childhood». (p. 19) «The participants included 65 focal children from Caucasian, middle-class families in Western New York State. Of the 65 focal children (M[moyenne] age = 56.4 mos.; SD[écart type] = 5.71 mos.), 37 were observed with a younger sibling (M age = 34.9 mos.; SD = 5.3 mos.) and 28 were observed with an older sibling (M age = 75.8, mos.; SD = 11.2 mos.). [...] Each focal child was also observed with a same-age friend [...] The mothers of the focal children completed a brief questionnaire regarding information of the nature of the relationship between the focal children and friend.» (p. 23)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Observations revealed the focal children employed a wide range of the shared meaning strategies across both play sessions, with introductions used more frequently with their sibling and positive and neutral responses and prosocial behaviour occurring more often with their friend. Birth order differences indicated that first-born focal children responded more negatively, ignored, and engaged in more nonmaintenance behaviours with their younger sibling than second-born focal children. First-borns also used more explanations with their younger sibling, whereas second-borns extended their older siblings’ ideas. There were no birth order differences for the focal children in the friend play session. Among the four ISL categories, goals and cognitions were referred to significantly more often than emotions and references, regardless of the play session. Lastly, the focal children’s shared meaning strategies and ISL were significantly correlated, with several significant associations found in the sibling session compared to the friend play session, thus demonstrating the complexity of interactions between siblings.» (p. iii-iv)