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Family Functioning and Socioaffective Competencies of Children in the Beginning of Schooling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Patricia Simone Hammes ,
Maria Aparecida Crepaldi  and
Marc Bigras
Patricia Simone Hammes
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada)
Maria Aparecida Crepaldi
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil)
Marc Bigras*
Affiliation:
Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada)
*
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Marc Bigras. Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888 succ. Centre-Ville, Montréal (Québec) H3C 3P8 (Canada). E-mail: bigras.marc@uqam.ca
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Abstract

The aim of this short term longitudinal study, based on the system theory, was to test the association between different aspects of family functioning of preschoolers and their socioaffective competencies at the end of the first grade. The total sample included 278 children (137 boys and 141 girls) and their families. The analysis of variance results regarding the aspects of family cohesion and harmony showed that preschoolers from more cohesive families display more social skills, while those from more conflicting families display more externalizing behavior problems (aggression and irritability). With respect to the family's ability to resolve problems, it was observed that, especially for middle and upper class families, this aspect is associated with better social skills and fewer internalized behavior problems. Overall, results of the present study suggest that the family functioning at early stage might influence children's abilities to regulate their emotions and to establish/maintain important relationships with peers and teachers in their early school years.

El objetivo de este estudio longitudinal a corto plazo, basado en la teoría de sistemas, era poner a prueba la relación entre los diferentes aspectos del funcionamiento familiar de los niños en edad preescolar y sus competencias socioafectivas al final del primer curso de educación infantil. La muestra total se compone de 278 niños (137 niños y 141 niñas) y sus familias. Los resultados del análisis de la variación con respecto a los aspectos de la cohesión y la armonía familiar indican que los niños preescolares de familias más cohesionadas muestran más habilidades sociales, mientras que los de familias más conflictivas muestran mayor externalización de problemas de comportamiento (agresividad e irritabilidad). Con respecto a la capacidad de la familia para resolver los problemas, se observó que, sobre todo para las familias de clase media y alta, este aspecto se asocia con mejores habilidades sociales y menos problemas de comportamiento interiorizados. En general, los resultados del presente estudio sugieren que el funcionamiento de la familia en la etapa temprana pueden influir en la capacidad de los niños de regular sus emociones y de establecer/mantener relaciones importantes con compañeros y maestros en sus primeros años escolares.

Keywords

family functioningsocioaffective competencesbehavior problemsearly school adjustmentfuncionamiento de la familiacompetencias socioafectivasproblemas de conductaadaptación escolar temprana
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 124 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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