The friendships of young children with developmental delays: A longitudinal analysis

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the social interactions of children with mild developmental (cognitive) delays with friends across the early childhood and early elementary years. Results revealed increases in many forms of social exchange with effect sizes in the moderate range, but no changes in sustained interactive play. Social interaction patterns, difficulties in identifying friends to participate in the study, and concerns evident in children's peer and friendship networks suggest the general absence of reciprocal friendships. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that children's limited peer-related social competence constrains all aspects of their development of friendships. Despite these problems, the potential benefits of interventions designed to support relationships at this stage of friendship development for children with delays were noted.

Introduction

Friendships play a central role in children's relationships, are characterized by high levels of reciprocity, mutuality, and affect, and provide a context that supports numerous aspects of a child's development (Bukowski et al., 1996, Hartup and Sancilio, 1986, Hartup and Stevens, 1997, Rubin et al., 2005). Both the characteristics defining friendships and the functions of friendships are apparent even during the early childhood years (Howes, 1986, Howes, 1988). With respect to function, evidence suggests that friendships established during this period create a valuable context affording important opportunities to learn and practice skills essential to children's social, cognitive, communicative, and emotional development. The influence of friendship on young children's emerging socially competent behavior patterns has produced particularly consistent findings. Specifically, friend versus non-friend play comparisons have indicated that social play with friends is characterized by more positive affect, higher levels of social interactions, and more effective forms of conflict management (Hartup et al., 1988, Hinde et al., 1985, Ladd et al., 1996, Newcomb and Bagwell, 1995, Newcomb and Bagwell, 1996).

Both conceptually and empirically, a close association exists between children's social competence and friendships across the life span (Hartup and Stevens, 1997, Howes, 1988). Having at least one reciprocal friend is positively associated with social competence. Children with more reciprocal friends have higher levels of social competence, and friendship dyads are characterized by more socially competent play than non-friend dyads (Lindsey, 2002, Vaughn et al., 2000, Vaughn et al., 2001). It is likely that this association reflects a complex process that evolves over time in which children's competence supports friendship development which, in turn, supports the further development of competence (see Newcomb and Bagwell, 1996, Rubin et al., 2006). Of importance, recent longitudinal research suggests that positive aspects of friendships occurring during the early elementary years, especially the number of friends, are predicted by children's social competence evident during early childhood (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2006).

Studies of the social play interactions of preschool-age children with mild developmental (cognitive) delays have revealed well-documented and unusual problems with respect to their peer-related social competence. Specific difficulties in social information processing and emotional regulation adversely affect numerous aspects of these children's social competence with peers, yielding unusually fragile and low levels of interactive or group forms of social play among other features (see Guralnick, 1999, for a review). The cognitive levels of children with mild developmental delays range from one to three standard deviations below the mean on standardized tests of intellectual development, and children exhibit considerable stability in cognitive functioning over time (Bernheimer and Keogh, 1988, Keogh et al., 1997, Vig et al., 1987). As might be expected, difficulties establishing friendships are especially apparent for these children. Compared to chronologically and developmentally matched groups of typically developing children and to children with communication disorders in playgroup settings, observational studies have revealed that young children with mild developmental delays rarely form reciprocal friendships (Guralnick et al., 1996, Guralnick and Groom, 1988). Of importance, most children with delays do develop preferences to interact with specific children during the early childhood period (i.e., meet criteria for non-reciprocal friendships). However, in contrast to typically developing children (Newcomb and Bagwell, 1995, Vaughn et al., 2001), children with delays who do form either non-reciprocal or reciprocal friendships do not engage in more socially interactive play with those peers in comparison to play with non-friends (Guralnick et al., 1996, Guralnick and Groom, 1988). This includes children's level of involvement in group play, a process requiring sophisticated interactive skills, as no increases during play with friends have been found for this measure. These studies suggest that the unusual difficulties in the peer-related social competence of children with developmental delays not only limit their ability to establish reciprocal friendships during the early childhood period, but may also affect their ability to take advantage of the opportunities occurring even when interacting with playmates they prefer.

Assessments of community-based friendship networks of children with mild developmental delays during early childhood are consistent with laboratory-based observational studies of friendships. Based on parent and teacher reports, the existence of friendships and more in-depth social contact with peers is more limited for children with delays than for typically developing children, although the general peer social networks of children with delays exhibit many similarities to those of their non-delayed peers (Buysse et al., 2002, Geisthardt et al., 2002, Guralnick, 1997). In the vast majority of instances, typically developing children are identified as friends of children with delays (e.g., Freeman and Kasari, 2002, Guralnick, 1997).

General problems related to friendship and social competence extend beyond the early childhood period for these children (Leffert & Siperstein, 2002). School-age children with delays, in particular, frequently report high levels of loneliness and isolation (Howell et al., 2001, Luftig, 1988, Margalit, 2004, Williams and Asher, 1992). Moreover, recent evidence suggests that young children with delays display only modest increases in peer-related social competence as they transition to the kindergarten and early elementary years, with a substantial proportion of children showing no growth at all (Guralnick, Hammond, Connor, & Neville, 2006). Nevertheless, it may well be that advantages of friendship in any form (reciprocal or unilateral) may become more apparent over time despite continuing problems in children's general social competence. Evidence does indicate that for a specific subgroup of children with delays, those with Down syndrome, older children interacting with friends may benefit from some aspects of a friendship relationship (Freeman & Kasari, 2002).

Specifically, for children with mild developmental delays beyond the early childhood period, it is quite possible that the repeated experience of the structure and perhaps script-like characteristics common to play with familiar playmates, especially those identified as friends, may be able to compensate to some extent for children's ongoing social competence difficulties (Nelson, 1981). Particularly in conjunction with the emergence of more advanced cognitive and language abilities over time, both the quality and quantity of social interactions with friends may well increase substantially as children move beyond early childhood. If this is the case, such information will be useful from an intervention perspective, particularly if more detailed analyses of the most optimal circumstances supporting friendships, such as the friends' characteristics or the nature of the relationship, are carried out.

Alternatively, in view of the apparent close association between children's social competence and friendships, both the formation of reciprocal friendships and the benefits of friendships occurring in any form may well continue to be limited for these children over time. Even children with delays who do establish friendships as they move beyond the early childhood period may experience only minor improvements in their ability to interact socially during play with friends and, more specifically, engage in complex forms of interactive sequences.

Accordingly, to evaluate these competing hypotheses, we conducted a longitudinal study to examine changes in social play with friends for a group of children with mild developmental delays across the preschool, kindergarten, and early elementary school years. Special emphasis was placed on determining the existence of friendships, the identity of children's friends, and the quality of those friendships within the general context of the peer-related social competence of children with delays (see Hartup & Stevens, 1997). Specifically, mothers of children with delays were asked to identify and bring a “good friend” of their child's to participate in laboratory play sessions at the beginning of the preschool or kindergarten year and then again two years later. Given the expected difficulties these children experience forming reciprocal friendships, we required only that the friends selected by the mother meet criteria emphasizing those children that their child played with and asked about most frequently. Comprehensive assessments of the social play interactions of the children were then obtained from detailed observational measures at both time points. Specifically, information was obtained on various aspects of peer social interactions including positive and negative exchanges, the success of social bids, the responsiveness of the child with a delay to the social bids of the friend, and especially the extent of sustained interactive play.

Relatedly, we examined the characteristics of the friends who did participate in order to determine the most optimal conditions for social play interactions. Variables of interest were the chronological age differences and the sex composition of the dyads, the length of relationships, and the friend's disability status. Available research based on interactions between children with delays and identified friends suggests that same sex, similar chronological age dyads, friends who have more extensive experiences with one another, and children who are typically developing rather than those who also have a developmental delay are associated with higher levels of social interactions (Freeman and Kasari, 2002, Guralnick and Groom, 1987a). Nevertheless, social interactions with identified friends who are typically developing often display asymmetrical rather than balanced interaction patterns with far less mutuality and reciprocity than found in friendship relationships of only typically developing children, suggesting that these friendships may have different meaning for children with delays (Freeman and Kasari, 2002, Siperstein et al., 1997).

Finally, we examined more general aspects of the peer and friendship networks of children with delays over time. Based on parent report, information was obtained with respect to the extent to which children were involved with peers in their community, including the number of playmates, information about best friends, the frequency with which play occurred, the quality of the relationships, and the amount of time spent with playmates. We also obtained information with respect to the characteristics of children identified as friends in this broader network, including whether they were relatives, their chronological age, sex, disability status, and information about the relationship itself, particularly the length of the relationship. Analyses of the changing pattern of children's friendship networks and the characteristics of the children identified as friends by children with delays over time, including those involving the friends brought to the laboratory play sessions, were designed to provide insight into the nature of the friendships of children with delays from the perspective of the reciprocity and mutuality of the relationship. This information, and related information, is relevant to our understanding of the influence of peer social competence on friendships and in providing direction for the design of intervention strategies.