Zelfregulatie, warmte in het gezin en aantal uren kinderopvang als voorspellers van prosociaal gedrag. Een longitudinaal onderzoek bij kleuters.

Abstract

In this research it was investigated whether effortful control, family integrity, number of hours attending day-care a week could predict prosocial behaviour in young children. The sample included 89 two-parent families and their firstborn preschool aged children. Two measurement moments were taken, at time 1 the child was 36 months old, and at time 2, the child was 54 months old. Information was obtained by means of parent-report and teacher-report questionnaires. Significant relations were found between effortful control and prosocial behaviour at time 1, in both the father report and the mother report. When reported by the mother, effortful control, family integrity and hours attending day-care a week predicted 20% of the variance in prosocial behaviour at time 1. Only effortful control was a significant predictor. The results indicate that effortful control and prosocial behaviour are related as well as family integrity and effortful control. Family integrity and number of hours attending day-care were not related to prosocial behaviour. At time 2 no significant relations were found between the variables. Neither could any of the variables, after controlling for social behaviour at time 1, predict prosocial behaviour at time 2.