Aggressive preschoolers are often rejected by their classmates and tend to befriend with aggressive peers. These negative social experiences in turn contribute to an escalation in their aggression. One prevention strategy designed to break this spiral is to pair the aggressive child with a socially competent classmate in a series of supervised play sessions. This dyadic intervention has two goals: 1) teach alternate behavior such as social skills and provide opportunities to practice them, and 2) support the formation of a positive relationship with the competent peer, which could in turn facilitate social integration in the classroom. The goal of this study was to test such an intervention using a RCT design. A sample of 202 aggressive preschoolers (70% boys; mean age = 65 months) were recruited using a screening procedure based on parents’ and teacher’ ratings in 180 kindergarten classrooms. Participants in the experimental condition were paired with a socially competent classmate for a series of 10 bi-weekly 30-minutes supervised play sessions. Social status, aggression and social skills were assessed before and after the intervention using sociometric nominations and teacher reports. Therapists also reported on the quality of the relationships within each dyad during the sessions. Analyses revealed that the aggressive children significantly improved their social status. However, they maintain the same level of aggression and did not increase their social skills. Interestingly, the quality of the relationship with the competent peer significantly contributed to the improvement of the targeted children’s social status in the classroom.

Authors:
Francois Poulin, Université du Québec à Montreal, Canada
Frank Vitaro, University of Montreal, Canada
France Capuano, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
François Poulin is currently a full professor in Psychology at Université du Québec à Montréal.

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