Interest in social emotional learning (SEL) is higher than ever, as parents, educators, and policymakers recognize that children need more than cognitive skills for later life success. However, most SEL research has been conducted in formal education settings. This article describes results from an empirical study of 4-5 years old SEL in two…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations of children's emotion knowledge (and its components) and socially appropriate behavior to peer likability in a sample of Italian preschool children at two time-points. At both Time 1 (T1; n = 46 boys, 42 girls) and a year later at Time 2 (T2; n = 26 boys, 22 girls), children's emotion…

This study investigated different forms of pretend and physical play as predictors of preschool children's "affective social competence" (ASC). Data were collected from 122 preschool children (57 boys, 65 girls; 86 European American, 9 African American, 17 Hispanic, and 10 other ethnicity) over a 2-year period. Children participated in…

Past studies have investigated relationships between peer acceptance and peer-rated social behaviors. However, relatively little is known about the manner in which indices of well-being such as optimism and positive affect may predict peer acceptance above and beyond peer ratings of antisocial and prosocial behaviors. Early adolescence--roughly…

Videotaped four- and five-year-olds playing to investigate conflict emotions during peer disputes. Found that initiators', recipients', and observers' emotions differed in the conflict and postconflict periods. Conflict initiators almost exclusively expressed happiness, whereas conflict recipients expressed mostly sadness and anger. Conflict…

Examined relationship of regulatory control to preschoolers' peer interactions. Found that children high in effortful control were relatively unlikely to experience high levels of negative emotional arousal in response to peer interactions, but this relationship held only for moderate to high intense interactions. Socially competent responding was…

This article describes several books published by Free Spirit Publishing which help gifted students to understand their giftedness. The books deal with such issues as parental pressure, teasing of peers, perfectionism, stress, underachievement, personal autonomy, self-esteem, lying, and strategies for success in school. (JDD)

Describes a theoretical model for affective social competence to include the three integrated and dynamic components of sending affective messages, receiving affective messages, and experiencing affect. Places the model within the context of previous research and theory related to affective social competence and, for each component, examines how…

Reviews research that provides connections between the constructs of emotional functioning and social competence in children, focusing on such areas as children's understanding and identification of emotions, emotion regulation, emotion display rules, sympathetic responding, and children's mood states. Finds some support for the idea that high…

Investigated children's and adolescents' involvement in mutual antipathies. Found that children and boys of all ages were more frequently involved in same-sex antipathies; involvement in mixed-sex antipathies was comparable for both genders. Same-sex antipathies were associated with antisocial behavior and social withdrawal for both age and gender…

Examined effect of negative affect of parents and peers on young children's affective responses, cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies. Found that compared to peer negative affect, children felt they could do little to help themselves when faced with paternal distress and frequently indicated they would use avoidant coping strategies to feel…

Investigated effects of age, gender, and peer social status on children's understanding of emotional regulation. Found that children would less openly express negative than positive emotions. Predictions of peer reactions to emotional expressions depended on type of emotion and expression. Girls anticipated more negative peer reactions than did…

This article reports on the activities and interactions of a highly gifted 9-year-old boy working in a fifth grade classroom with students of mixed ability levels. School modifications to manage gaps between the boy's intellectual development and his social and emotional development took little account of his affective needs, and resulted in…

This book discusses the emotional experiences of young children and explores the connections between emotions, socialization, and healthy relationships. The introductory chapter discusses the nature of emotion, emotional and social competence, and the study of young children's emotions. Chapter 2, "Emotional Expressiveness," describes…

Two studies investigated emotional-display-rule knowledge and its associations with family expressiveness and peer competence. Findings indicated that third graders combined expression regulation with prosocial reasoning, norm-maintenance, and self-protective motives more frequently than kindergartners. Negative expressiveness was related…