Turkish preschool children's representations of friendship: Story completion method adaptation study

Year 2022, , 357 - 375, 26.06.2022

İmray Nur , Yaşare Aktaş Arnas

https://doi.org/10.21449/ijate.958145

Abstract

In the preschool period, children's friendships considered a crucial developmental task. Hence, it is critical to evaluate children's mental representations of friendships during this period. This study aims to evaluate the validity and reliability of the story completion protocol designed to evaluate preschool children's mental representations of their friendships in school settings for Turkish children. The Preschool Friendship Story Completion Task consists of six stories, one of which is warming. The stories were translated into Turkish by researchers and Turkish-English language experts, and expert opinion was taken for Turkish-English compatibility. Two pilot studies were conducted to evaluate children's participation in the task and following the instructions. Seventy children attending pre-school education institutions participated in the study. Children are asked to complete the unfinished stories presented through a scene and figures. The coders evaluated the video-recorded children's narratives using a detailed rating system. In addition, teachers evaluated the social skills and problem behaviors of children. The results affirmed that the friendship dimensions were conceptually related to each other and the inter-coder reliability was high. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the story completion method on the basis of the narratives of children is a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate way to assess children's friendships.

Keywords

Preschool, Friendship, Mental representations, Story completion

Supporting Institution

Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Cukurova University

Project Number

SDK-2017-9660

References

• Akın, A., Adam-Karduz, F.F., & Akın, Ü. (2014). The validity and reliability of Turkish version of the friendship quality scale. Journal of Research in Education and Teaching, 3(4), 378–383.
• Bagwell, C.L., & Coie, J.D. (2004). The best friendships of aggressive boys: Relationship quality, conflict management, and rule-breaking behavior. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2003.11.004
• Bowlby, J. (2012). Bağlanma [Attachment]. (T.V. Soylu, Trans.). Pinhan Yayıncılık. (Original publication 1969).
• Berndt, T.J. (1996). Exploring the effects of friendship quality on social development. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb, & W.W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 346–365). Cambridge University Press.
• Berndt, T.J., (2004). Children’s friendships: Shifts over a half-century in perspectives on their development and their effects. Merrill-Paimer Quarterly, 50(3), 206–223. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23096162
• Bretherton, I., & Oppenheim, D. (2003). The MacArthur Story Stem Battery: Development, directions for administration, reliability, validity and reflections about meaning. In R.N. Emde, D.P. Wolf, & D. Oppenheim (Eds.), Revealing the inner worlds of young children: The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and parent-child narratives (pp. 55–80). Oxford University Press.
• Bretherton, I., Ridgeway, D., & Cassidy, J. (1990). Assessing internal working models of the attachment relationship. In M.T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E.M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 273–310). University of Chicago Press.
• Bukowski, W.M., & Hoza, B. (1989). Popularity and friendship: Issues in theory, measurement, and outcome. In T.J. Berndt & G.W. Ladd (Eds.), Wiley series on personality processes. Peer relationships in child development (pp. 15–45). John Wiley & Sons.
• Bukowski, W.M., Newcomb, A.F., & Hartup, W.W. (1996). Friendship and its significance in childhood and adolescence: Introduction and comment. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb & W.W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendships in childhood and adolescence (pp. 1–15). Cambridge University Press.
• Delius, A., Bovenschen, I., & Spangler, G. (2008). The inner working model as a 'theory of attachment': Development during the preschool years. Attachment & Human Development, 10(4), 395–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730802461425
• Demir, S. (2006). The effect to the sociometric status of second degree primary school students of the group guidance program in order to develop friendship abilities [Unpublished master’s thesis]. İnönü University.
• Dishion, T.J., Andrews, D.W., & Crosby, L. (1995). Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: Relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process. Child Development, 66(1), 139–151. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00861.x
• Dishion, T.J., Capaldi, D., Spracklen, K.M., & Li, F. (1995). Peer ecology of male adolescent drug use. Development and Psychopathology, 7(4), 803 824. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579400006854
• Dunn, J. (2004). Children’s friendships: The beginnings of intimacy. Blackwell.
• Erdley, C.A., Nangle, D.W., Newman, J.E., & Carpenter, E.M. (2001). Children's friendship experiences and psychological adjustment: Theory and research. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 91, 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/cd.3
• Emde, R.N., Wolf, D.P., & Oppenheim, D. (2003). Revealing the inner worlds of young children: The MacArthur Story Stem Battery and parent-child narrativ. Oxford University Press.
• Engle, J.M., Mcelwain, N.L., & Lasky, N. (2011). Presence and quality of kindergarten children's friendships: Concurrent and longitudinal associations with child adjustment in the early school years. Infant and Child Development, 20(4), 365–386. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.706
• Ercan, H. (2015). Psychometric properties and the adaptation study of the adolescent friendship scale. The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies, 38, 227–240. https://doi.org/10.9761/JASSS3054
• Fonzi, A., Schneider, B.H., Tani, F., & Tomada, G. (1997). Predicting children’s friendship status from their dyadic interaction in structured situations of potential conflict. Child Development, 68, 496–506. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131674
• Furman, W. (1996). The measurement of friendship perceptions: conceptual and methodological issues. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb, & W.H. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 41–65). Cambridge University Press.
• Gülay, H. (2008). Standartization of a scale for measuring peer relations among 5-6 years old children and studying the relations between some familial variables and peer relations of children at this age [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Marmara University.
• Gülay, H., & Erten, H. (2011). The predictive effects peer acceptance has on school adjustment variables in preschool children. E-International Journal of Educational Research, 1(2), 81–92. http://www.e-ijer.com/tr/download/article-file/89726
• Güven, T., & Topbaş, S. (2014). Adaptation of the Test of Early Language Development - Third Edition (TELD-3) into Turkish: Reliability and validity study. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 6(2), 151 176. https://doi.org/10.20489/intjecse.62795
• Hartup, W.W. (1992). Having friends, making friends, and keeping friends: Relationships as educational contexts. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.
• Hartup, W.W. (1996). The company they keep: Friendships and their developmental significance. Child Development, 67, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131681
• Hartup, W.W., Laursen, B., Stewart, M.I., & Eastenson, A. (1988). Conflict and the friendship relations of young children. Child Development, 59, 1590 1600. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130673
• Hresko W.P., Reid D.K., & Hammill D.D. (1999). Test of Early Language Development (TELD) (3rd ed.). PRO-ED.
• Howes, C. (1983). Patterns of friendship. Child Development, 54(4), 1041 1053. https://doi.org/10.2307/1129908
• Howes, C. (2009). Friendship in early childhood. In K.H. Rubin, W.M. Bukowski & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relations, and groups (pp. 180–194). Guilford Press.
• Howes, C. (1996). The earliest friendships. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb & W.W. Hartup (Eds.), The Company they keep: Friendships in childhood and adolescence (pp. 66–86). Cambridge University Press.
• Howes, C., Hamilton, C.E., & Philipsen, L.C. (1998). Stability and continuity of child-caregiver and child peer relationships. Child Development, 69(2), 418 426. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06199x
• Kingery, J.N., & Erdley, C.A. (2007). Peer experiences as predictors of adjustment across the middle school transition. Education and Treatment of Children, 30, 73 88. https://doi.org/10.1353/etc.2007.0007
• Ladd, G.W. (1990). Having friends, keeping friends, making friends, and being liked by peers in the classroom: Predictors of children’s early school adjustment. Child Development, 61, 1081–1100. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130877
• Ladd, G.W., Kochenderfer, B.J., & Coleman, C.C. (1996). Friendship quality as a predictor of young children’s early school adjustment. Child Development, 67, 1103–1118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131882
• Ladd, G.W., & Troop Gordon, W. (2003). The role of chronic peer difficulties in the developmentof children’s psychological adjustment problems. Child Development, 74, 1344–1367. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00611
• Laursen, B. (1996). Closeness and conflict in adolescent peer relationships: Interdependence with friends and romantic partners. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb & W.W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 186–210). Cambridge University Press.
• Merrell, K.W. (2003). Preschool and kindergarten behavior scales. Examiner’s manual (2nd ed.). Pro-ed.and International Publesher.
• Miljkovitch, R., Pierrehumbert, B., & Halfon, O. (2007). Three-year-olds' attachment play narratives and their associations with internalizing problems. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 14(4), 249–257. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.535
• Muller, E., Perren, S., & Wustmann–Seiler, C. (2014). Coherence and content of conflict-based narratives: Associations to family risk and maladjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 28, 707–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037845
• Newcomb, A.F., & Bagwell, C.L. (1995). Children’s friendship relations: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 306 347.
• Newcomb, A.F., & Bagwell, C.L. (1996). The developmental significance of children's friendship relations. In W.M. Bukowski, A.F. Newcomb & W.W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendships in childhood and adolescence (pp. 289–321). Cambridge University Press.
• Oppenheim, D. (2006). Child, parent, and parent-child emotion narratives: Implications for developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 18(3), 771 790. https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457940606038X
• Oppenheim, D., Nir, A., Warren, S., & Emde, R.N. (1997). Emotion regulation in mother–child narrative co-construction: Associations with children’s narratives and adaptation. Developmental Psychology, 33, 284–294. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.33.2.284
• Özbey, (2009). Study of the validity and reliabilty of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behaviour Scales and to examine affect of the promoter education program [Unpublished doctoral dissertation] Gazi University.
• Özmen, D. (2013). The analisis of peer relations of 5-6 years old children in terms of social problem solving abilities [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Selcuk University.
• Öztürk, D. (2009). The effects of friendship making skills training with board game on friendship making skills of fourth grade elementary school students [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Middle East Technical University.
• Öztürk, N., & Kutlu, M. (2017). The impact of friendship skills psycho-education on the friendship quality of 9-12 year-old students. Education and Science 42(191), 397–413. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2017.7030
• Page, T., & Bretherton, I. (2001). Mother- and father-child attachment themes in the story completions of pre-schoolers from post-divorce families: Do they predict relationships with peers and teachers? Attachment and Human Development, 3(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/713761897
• Park, K.A., & Waters, E. (1989). Security of attachment and preschool friendships. Child Development, 60(5), 1067–1081. https://doi.org/10.2307/1130781
• Parker, J.G., & Seal, J. (1996). Forming, losing, renewing, and replacing friendships: Applying temporal parameters to the assessment of children’s friendship experiences. Child Development, 67, 2248–2268. https://doi.org/10.2307/1131621
• Rose, A.J., & Asher, S.R. (2000). Children’s friendships. In C. Hendrick & S.S. Hendrick (Eds.), Close relationships: A sourcebook (pp. 47–57). Sage.
• Proulx, M., & Poulin, F. (2013). Stability and change in kindergartners' friendships: Examination of links with social functioning. Social Development, 22(1), 111–125. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12001
• Rydell, A., Bohlin, G., & Thorell, L.B. (2005). Representations of attachment to parents and shyness as predictors of children’s relationships with teachers and peer competence in preschool. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 187 204. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730500134282
• San Juan, R.R. (2006). Studying preschool friendship quality: A story completion task to examine young children’s mental models of a specific best friendship [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Sebanc, A.M. (2003). The friendship features of preschool children: Links with prosocial behavior and aggression. Social Development, 12, 249 268. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9507.00232
• Simpkins, S.D., & Parke, R.D. (2002). Do friends and nonfriends behave differently? A social relations analysis of children’s behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 263–283. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23093770
• Shaver, P.R., Collins, N., & Clark, C.R. (1996). Attachment styles and internal working models of self and relationship partners. In G.J. Fletcher & J. Fitness (Eds.), Knowledge structures in close relationships: A social psychological approach (pp. 25 62). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Stievenart, M., Roskam, I., Meunier, J.C., & van de Moortele, G. (2011). The reciprocal relation between children's attachment representations and their cognitive ability. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35(1), 58 66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410370790
• Sullivan, H.S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. W.W. Norton & Company.
• Ulutaş, A. (2016). The effect of the game-based training program on peer relations among five-year-old children receiving preschool education. International Journal of Social Science, 42, 61–74. https://doi.org/10.9761/JASSS3169
• Von Klitzing, K., Stadelmann S., & Perren, S. (2007) Story stem narratives of clinical and normal kindergarten children: Are content and performance associated with children's social competence?. Attachment & Human Development, 9(3), 271 286, https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730701455445
• Vu, J.A. (2015). Children's representations of relationships with mothers, teachers, and friends, and associations with social competence. Early Child Development and Care, 185(10), 1695–1713. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2015.1022538
• Warren, S.L., Oppenheim, D., & Emde, R.N. (1996). Can emotions and themes in children’s play predict behavior problems? Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1331–1337. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199610000-00020
• Wojslawowicz, J.C., Rubin, K.H., Burgess, K.B., Booth-LaForce, C., & Rose-Krasnor, L. (2006). Behavioral characteristics associated with stable and fluid best friendship patterns in middle childhood. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 52, 671 693. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2006.0000
• Wolcott, C.S., Williford, A.P., & Hartz Mandell, K. (2019): The validity of narratives for understanding children’s perceptions of the teacher–child relationship for preschoolers who display elevated disruptive behaviors. Early Education and Development, 30(7), 887–912. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2018.1556547
• Yoleri, S. (2015). Preschool children's school adjustment: indicators of behaviour problems, gender, and peer victimisation. Education 3 13, 43(6), 630 640. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2013.848915
• Youngblade, L.M., & Belsky, J. (1992). Parent–child antecedents of 5-year-olds’ close friendships: A longitudinal analysis. Developmental Psychology, 28, 700–713. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.4.700
• Youngblade, L.M., Park, K.A., & Belsky, J. (1993). Measurement of young children’s close friendship: A comparison of two independent assessment systems and their associations with attachment security. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 563–587. https://doi.org/10.1177/016502549301600403