The Development of Social and Communicative Competence in Childhood: Review and a Model of Personal, Familial, and Extrafamilial Processes

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Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to explicate a conceptual model that illustrates how extrafamilial (e.g., sources of stress and support), personal (e.g., inherent psychological child and parent resources), and familial (e.g., parenting, family interactions) processes work together to affect social/communicative peer group outcomes in young children. It is traditionally assumed that proximal factors (e.g., parenting, sibling/family interactions) have the greatest influence on child outcomes. In this review the authors discuss how these proximal factors work in combination with a host of personal and extrafamilial variables in ways that are linked to child social/communicative competence with peers. In addition to explaining possible mechanisms responsible for linkages within and between model components, the authors recommend directions for future research in areas of the framework that have weak empirical support.