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Background: The self‐concept of children has an impact on later behavioural development and psychopathology; therefore, evidence of the accurate measurement of self‐concept is important. Harter and Pike's (1984, Child Development, 55, 1969) commonly used measure of self‐concept, the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Children, has demonstrated varying evidence of its construct validity and reliability, particularly with preschool‐ or kindergarten‐aged participants. Aim: To examine the measurement properties of the Acceptance and Competence measures, and to substantiate the measures' adequacy within the latter participant age range. Sample: One hundred and ninety‐seven preschool or kindergarten‐aged children (M = 5.40 years, SD = 0.30) provided data as part of the Animal Fun study over three measurement periods. Methods: The study conducted a pair of Rasch analyses on the Acceptance and Competence measures described prior, with adherence to the assumptions of univariate measurement, item fit, item invariance, and response category adequacy examined as part of these analyses. Results: While the Acceptance measure demonstrated adequate reliability outside of some potentially misfitting items, the study identified several limitations for the Competence measure, including potential gender‐based and verbal IQ‐based response biases. Conclusions: Practitioners and research applications of these subscales may benefit from the response recoding recommendations provided in this study for the Acceptance measure, as they improved the measure's properties. The study provides potential solutions to item adequacy concerns, and avenues for future research, involving these measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive evidence has documented the gender stereotypic content of children’s media, and media is recognized as an important socializing agent for young children. Yet, the precise impact of children’s media on the endorsement of gender-typed attitudes and behaviors has received less scholarly attention. We investigated the impact of stereotypic and counter-stereotypic peers pictured in children’s magazines on children’s gender flexibility around toy play and preferences, playmate choice, and social exclusion behavior (n = 82, age 4-7 years-old). British children were randomly assigned to view a picture of a peer-age boy and girl in a magazine playing with either a gender stereotypic or counter-stereotypic toy. In the stereotypic condition, the pictured girl was shown with a toy pony and the pictured boy was shown with a toy car; these toys were reversed in the counter-stereotypic condition. Results revealed significantly greater gender flexibility around toy play and playmate choices among children in the counter-stereotypic condition compared to the stereotypic condition, and boys in the stereotypic condition were more accepting of gender-based exclusion than were girls. However, there was no difference in children’s own toy preferences between the stereotypic and counter-stereotypic condition, with children preferring more gender-typed toys overall. Implications of the findings for media, education, and parenting practices are discussed, and the potential for counter-stereotypic media portrayals of toy play to shape the gender socialization of young children is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores feminist philosopher Sara Ruddick's concept of ‘maternal thinking’ and considers the applicability and use of her ideas for early childhood pedagogy. This is illustrated through a small-scale case study, undertaken in early years settings in England, in which three dimensions of maternal thinking are evidenced in the work of early years practitioners: preservation of the child, fostering the growth of the child and the child's social acceptance. We argue that ethics of care are central to an articulation of contemporary early childhood pedagogy and must be advanced through engagement with students of early childhood in higher education (HE). This practice is demonstrated in a second case study, reporting a participatory research project with university students. Care-full values, practice and thinking are vital in order to challenge the status quo and emphasise early childhood pedagogy as important work towards the creation of a more equitable and sustainable society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ekornås, B., Lundervold, A. J., Tjus, T. & Heimann, M. (2010). Anxiety disorders in 8–11-year-old children: Motor skill performance and self-perception of competence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 271–277. This study investigates motor skill performance and self-perceived competence in children with anxiety disorders compared with children without psychiatric disorders. Motor skills and self-perception were assessed in 329 children aged 8 to 11 years, from the Bergen Child Study. The Kiddie-SADS PL diagnostic interview was employed to define a group of children with an anxiety disorder without comorbid diagnosis, and a control group (no diagnosis) matched according to gender, age, and full-scale IQ. Children in the anxiety disorder group displayed impaired motor skills and poor self-perceived peer acceptance and physical competence compared with the control group. Two-thirds of the anxious boys scored on the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) as having motor problems. The present study demonstrated impaired motor skills in boys with “pure” anxiety disorders. Anxious children also perceived themselves as being less accepted by peers and less competent in physical activities compared with children in the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment tested whether peer approval and disapproval experiences can cause immediate change in children’s state self-esteem. Children’s narcissistic traits and evaluator perceived popularity were examined as potential moderators. A total of 333 preadolescents (M = 10.8 years) completed personal profiles on the Internet that were ostensibly judged by a jury consisting of popular and unpopular peers. Participants randomly received negative, neutral, or positive feedback from the jury. Next, they could examine the feedback that each individual judge gave them. As expected, peer disapproval decreased self-esteem, especially in children high in narcissism. In contrast, peer approval increased self-esteem. Moreover, disapproved children’s self-esteem recovery was dependent on the extent to which they subsequently viewed positive feedback from popular judges. These findings support sociometer theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recognition of the multiple pathways through which family and peer systems are linked, this short-term longitudinal study tested a tripartite model of family-peer relationships. One hundred fifty-nine fourth- grade children (82 boys, 77 girls) and their parents participated in a study of the links between parent behaviors and children's peer relations both concurrently and 1 year later. A multimethod approach- including observations of parent-child interactions, parent report, child report, and teacher and peer ratings-was used to evaluate a tripartite model of family-peer relations. Results indicate that parent- child interaction, parent advice giving, and parental provision of opportunities by both mothers and fathers predict children's social competence and, in turn, social acceptance 1 year later. Suggestions for future research and practical implications are noted, and limitations of the study are acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about how to predict which individuals with known temperament vulnerabilities will go on to develop social anxiety problems. Adolescents (N = 185) were followed from age 13 to 18 to evaluate psychosocial, prospective predictors of social anxiety symptoms and fears of negative evaluation (FNE), after accounting for pre-existing social withdrawal symptoms. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that lack of perceived social acceptance predicts subsequent explicit social anxiety and FNE, whereas the emotional intensity of close peer interactions predicts subsequent implicit FNE. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of peer interaction in the development of social anxiety, and the value of measuring both implicit and explicit FNE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing models of the factorial structure of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA) were tested for fit using multisample confirmatory factor analysis. The best fitting model was tested for invariance (a) across samples of middle-class ( n=251) and economically disadvantaged (Head Start, n=117) kindergarten children (whose ages ranged from 67 to 86 months), and (b) over time (at the end of preschool and kindergarten) for the Head Start sample. For kindergarten children, regardless of socioeconomic status, the factor structure of the PSPCSA was consistent with the 2-factor model of Competence and Acceptance. This model also fit reasonably well for Head Start children at the end of their preschool year. However, in addition to providing broad support for the dimensionality of the measure, our findings highlight important concerns about the PSPCSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]