Although development of competence and learning new skills are important challenges during academic period, research on the role of child's academic competence in development of peer relationship is rarely found. The purpose of this study is to examin...
Although development of competence and learning new skills are important challenges during academic period, research on the role of child's academic competence in development of peer relationship is rarely found. The purpose of this study is to examine the pathway which child characteristics, maternal warmth, and child's academic competence affect quality of child's peer relationship.
291 elementary school-children(Mean Age= 11.4, 51.2% girls) were gathered as subjects and Data were collected through questionnaires on child's temperament(quality of mood, approach level, attention persistence, distractability), maternal warmth, child's academic competence, peer relationship qualities by children.
The main results of this study were as follows:
First, in the pathway model of child's temperament, maternal warmth, child's academic competence, and quality of peer relationship, child's temperament showed indirect effect on quality of peer relationship through academic competence. In addition, maternal warmth affected quality of peer relationship directly and indirectly through child's academic competence.
Second, there were sex difference in the pathway model of child's temperament, maternal warmth, child's academic competence, and quality of peer relationship. For boys, while effects of child's temperament on quality of peer relationship was partially mediated by academic competence, relations between maternal warmth and quality of peer relationship was fully mediated by academic competence. For girls, child's academic competence fully mediated the effects of variables such as temperament and quality of peer relationship, whereas, child's academic competence play a role as a partial mediator in relations between maternal warmth and child's peer relationship quality.
Third, it was found that child's temperament(Quality of mood), academic competence, sex, and maternal warmth has significant effect on the quality of child's peer relationship. Thus, children who showed positive mood, high academic competence, and experienced mothers' warmth displayed high level of peer relationship quality. In addition, it was found that girls' quality of peer relationship were more positive than boys'.
To conclude, child's temperament and maternal warmth effected quality of peer relationship both directly and indirectly through child's academic competence. This study clearly showed connection between child's temperament, maternal warmth, and child's academic competence, and how these significantly affected quality of peer relationship.