peer acceptance

Background School-aged children that experience social anxiety and have difficulty with interactions among peers can create significant challenges to their development in terms of both psychology and behavior. A team sport such as volleyball provides a common setting that naturally includes all aspects of social interaction (communication, cooperation, role coordination, etc.) and shared goals which is essential to improve the child’s confidence in interacting socially and abilities to interact socially with peers. Objective This research is an examination of the effect that a 12-week collective volleyball cooperative tactical training program will have on social anxiety and peer interaction in children (8–12). Methods A sample of 80 healthy school-age children was obtained via two methods of campus based, voluntary and/or open recruitment. These children were then randomly assigned to either an experimental intervention group ( n = 40) or an active control group receiving standard physical education ( n = 40). For 12 consecutive weeks, participants in the experimental group engaged in a type of volleyball cooperative tactical team training that occurred on 3 days each week at 1 h per day. During this time the participants in the control group engaged in standard physical education classes of matched frequency and duration. Social anxiety was measured by use of the Social Anxiety Scale for Children (SASC); SASC measures include total social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and social avoidance/distress. Participant peer interaction was evaluated using a study-specific 25-item peer-interaction questionnaire covering interaction initiative, peer acceptance, interaction coordination, interaction openness, and conflict resolution ability. Data collection occurred prior to, as well as subsequent to, the intervention. Statistical analyses were conducted utilizing SPSS version 26.0 software. A 2 × 2 mixed-design ANOVA was conducted to examine Group × Time interaction effects, with group (intervention vs. control) as the between-subjects factor and time (pre-intervention vs. post-intervention) as the within-subject factor. Effect sizes were reported using partial eta squared ( η 2 p ), and post hoc comparisons were performed when significant interactions were identified. Results Group × Time Interaction Effects from a mixed-design ANOVA were found to be statistically significant for both of the outcomes (social anxiety and peer interaction) of this study. Children participating in an intervention that included an instructional program using the Collective Volleyball Cooperative Tactical Training Model showed significantly greater improvement than did those in the Control Condition in reducing their level of social anxiety as well as improving their peer interaction abilities over the course of the 12-weeks. Although we found a statistically-significant improvement in both children’s social anxiety, and their peer interaction skills through a 12-week program, there is no data available for us to understand if those positive results will continue into the future because we did not assess children at later points in time. Thus, future researchers are encouraged to consider extended assessment periods as part of their study designs to determine how long such interventions have an impact. Secondly, as a feasibility study in a controlled environment showed promise for implementation of cooperative tactical volleyball programs, there may be barriers to successful implementation in regular school settings such as lack of facilities, class size and teacher workload. Future research is needed to examine how cooperative tactical volleyball programs can be adapted to encompass large groups of students and incorporated into routine physical education curriculum. Furthermore, although the intervention showed feasibility under controlled conditions, implementation in regular school settings may face practical challenges, including limited facilities, larger class sizes, and teacher workload. Future studies should examine how cooperative volleyball tactical training can be adapted for broader school-based implementation. Conclusion Collective Volleyball Cooperative Tactical Training is an effective method for reducing social anxiety and improving the ability of school aged children to interact with peers. The program offers a viable, school-based model for integrating sport skills acquisition (training) and psychosocial growth through physical activity.

Introduction Preschool peer acceptance is a pivotal marker of social-emotional well-being and future adaptation. Although teacher–child relationship quality is a known correlate of children’s peer status, the mechanisms linking this vertical relationship to horizontal peer relations remain insufficiently understood. Methods This two-wave longitudinal study examined whether emotion understanding and social initiative were associated with the prospective link between teacher–child relationship quality and later peer acceptance. Data were collected from 319 Chinese preschool children across a 12-month interval. Teachers reported teacher–child closeness, conflict, and children’s social initiative; children completed an emotion understanding task; and peer acceptance was assessed using peer nominations. Structural equation models controlled for baseline levels of emotion understanding, social initiative, peer acceptance, and relevant covariates. Results Results showed that T1 teacher closeness positively predicted, whereas teacher conflict negatively predicted, T2 peer acceptance. Emotion understanding and social initiative each served as significant indirect pathways linking teacher–child relationship quality with later peer acceptance. In addition, a theory-informed serial indirect pathway from T1 teacher–child relationship quality to T2 peer acceptance via T2 emotion understanding and T2 social initiative was statistically significant. Discussion However, because the study was observational and because the mediators and outcome were all assessed at T2, the findings should be interpreted as prospective associations consistent with the proposed theoretical model rather than as evidence of causal or strictly temporal mechanisms. These findings suggest that supportive teacher–child relationships may be linked to peer acceptance through children’s socioemotional understanding and proactive peer engagement.

مقدمه: پذیرش همسالان در دوره پیش‌دبستانی شاخصی محوری از بهزیستی اجتماعی-هیجانی و سازگاری آینده است. اگرچه کیفیت رابطه معلم-کودک به عنوان یکی از همبسته‌های شناخته‌شده وضعیت همسالان کودکان مطرح است، اما سازوکارهای پیونددهنده این رابطه عمودی با روابط افقی همسالان همچنان به‌طور کافی شناخته نشده‌اند. روش‌ها: این مطالعه طولی دو موجی بررسی کرد که آیا فهم هیجانی و ابتکار اجتماعی با پیوند آینده‌نگر بین کیفیت رابطه معلم-کودک و پذیرش بعدی همسالان مرتبط هستند یا خیر. داده‌ها از ۳۱۹ کودک پیش‌دبستانی چینی در یک بازه زمانی ۱۲ ماهه گردآوری شد. معلمان نزدیکی و تعارض معلم-کودک و ابتکار اجتماعی کودکان را گزارش کردند؛ کودکان یک تکلیف فهم هیجانی را انجام دادند؛ و پذیرش همسالان با استفاده از نام‌بردن همسالان ارزیابی شد. مدل‌های معادلات ساختاری سطوح پایه فهم هیجانی، ابتکار اجتماعی، پذیرش همسالان و متغیرهای همبسته مرتبط را کنترل کردند. نتایج: نتایج نشان داد که نزدیکی معلم در زمان T1 به طور مثبت و تعارض معلم به طور منفی پذیرش همسالان در زمان T2 را پیش‌بینی کرد. فهم هیجانی و ابتکار اجتماعی هر یک به عنوان مسیرهای غیرمستقیم معنادار، کیفیت رابطه معلم-کودک را به پذیرش بعدی همسالان پیوند دادند. علاوه بر این، یک مسیر غیرمستقیم سریالی مبتنی بر نظریه از کیفیت رابطه معلم-کودک در T1 به پذیرش همسالان در T2 از طریق فهم هیجانی و ابتکار اجتماعی در T2 از لحاظ آماری معنادار بود. بحث: با این حال، با توجه به اینکه مطالعه مشاهده‌ای بود و میانجی‌ها و پیامد همگی در T2 ارزیابی شدند، یافته‌ها باید به عنوان ارتباطات آینده‌نگر منطبق با مدل نظری پیشنهادی تفسیر شوند و نه به عنوان شواهدی از سازوکارهای علّی یا کاملاً زمانی. این یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که روابط حمایتی معلم-کودک ممکن است از طریق فهم اجتماعی-هیجانی کودکان و مشارکت فعال آن‌ها با همسالان به پذیرش همسالان مرتبط باشد.