The Peer Social Networks of Young Children with Down Syndrome in Classroom Programmes.

Community preschool, school, and child care programmes provide ideal contexts for young children to establish relationships with their peers and to develop friendships. Yet a substantial proportion of young children with developmental (cognitive) delays experience unusual difficulties interacting with peers in these settings and forming social networks. Compared to appropriate groups of typically developing children, findings consistently indicate that the peer relationships of heterogeneous groups of young children with developmental delays are limited both in terms of the frequency of interactions and their quality. In particular, children with delays interact less often with peers, engage in lower levels of group play but higher levels of conflicts when they do interact, and form relatively few reciprocal friendships (e.g., Brown, Odom, McConnell, & Rathel, 2008; Diamond, 2002; Guralnick, Hammond, Connor, & Neville, 2006; Guralnick, Neville, Hammond, & Connor, 2007; Kopp, Baker, & Brown, 1992). Many of these behavioral patterns, evident in free-play or semi-structured contexts, appear to reflect fundamental peer-related social competence problems, problems even more serious than anticipated based on children’s developmental levels. Among specific peer competence concerns are problems regulating emotions, the ability to appropriately and accurately process complex social information, a failure to organize peer interactions within a larger social task framework, and a lack of knowledge about expected social rules and play themes (see Guralnick, 1999). One consequence of these peer competence problems is limited peer social networks, including the size of those networks and the frequency of play with network peers in a variety of settings. Despite these peer competence problems and the relationship difficulties that they create, much can be done to support the formation and maintenance of children’s peer social networks. This is especially the case in classroom settings where extensive opportunities are available to form social networks with peers. Indeed, during social play activities, teachers often utilize strategies designed to foster social interactions or friendships among children in their classrooms, both specialized and inclusive (e.g., Buysse, Goldman, & Skinner, 2003). These strategies tend not to be highly individualized interventions designed to promote peer competence (see Guralnick, Connor, Neville, & Hammond, 2006) and are not employed as extensively as appears warranted (Brown & Conroy, 2002; Brown et al., 2008). Nevertheless, they are potentially capable of enhancing many aspects of children’s peer social networks in the classroom (Brown, Odom, & Conroy, 2001). Available evidence suggests that the peer social network concerns noted above affect a substantial proportion of young children with developmental delays. However, considerable variability exists among heterogeneous groups of children with delays as well as between definable subgroups of children. One important and useful way to define subgroups is to consider the etiology of a child’s delay, a perspective and approach that continues to generate important insights into children’s developmental patterns and prospects for intervention (Hodapp, DesJardins, & Ricci, 2003). Of all the subgroups of children with delays, children with Down syndrome may be most responsive to teachers’ efforts to support their peer social networks. This etiologically homogeneous subgroup has a prevalence of approximately 1 in 700 births and remains the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability (Sherman, Allen, Bean, & Freeman, 2007). Although the developmental and behavioral patterns of these children are by no means homogenous, they nevertheless share important characteristics. Among these is an orientation to social stimuli and an interest in social interaction (see Kasari & Hodapp, 1996, and Fidler & Nadel, 2007). Indeed, parents of children with Down syndrome note their child’s sociability as a relative strength (Carr, 1995; Hornby, 1995; Loveland & Kelley, 1991). Similar views appear to be held by teachers (Gilmore, Campbell, & Cuskelly, 2003). Alternatively, it is important to point out that these perceptions exist despite substantial concerns with respect to many aspects of home and neighborhood peer social networks and the peer competence of children with Down syndrome (Byrne, Cunningham, & Sloper, 1988; Carr, 1995; Freeman & Kasari, 2002; Guralnick, 2002; Guralnick, Connor, & Johnson, 2009; Howell, Hauser-Cram, & Kersh, 2007). In fact, evidence is accumulating to suggest that significant social competence problems are associated with children with Down syndrome, affecting numerous relationships (Cebula & Wishart, 2008; Iarocci, Yager, Rombough, & McLaughlin, 2008; Wishart, 2007). In this investigation, these contrasting perspectives of the social development of children with Down syndrome were evaluated in the context of children’s peer social networks in classroom settings. Peer social network measures focused on children’s social contacts in the classroom including network size, frequency of interactions with identified social partners, amount of time these dyads engaged in play, and the quality of those interactions, including level of conflicts and involvement in play. A unique feature of this study was to place the classroom-based peer social networks of children with Down syndrome in a developmental perspective. To accomplish this, peer social network measures were not only obtained from a group of children with Down syndrome, but also from a group of younger typically developing children matched on mental age (MA-match) and a group of typically developing children matched on chronological age (CA-match). Given the potential value of teacher support of children’s peer social networks in the classroom and the perceived social orientation of children with Down syndrome, it was anticipated that the frequency and quality of the networks for these children would, at minimum, be similar to those of children in the MA-match group. Moreover, despite constraints imposed by children’s level of cognitive development on peer interactions (Brownell, 1986; Howes, 1987), in further consideration of the strong social orientation of children with Down syndrome and the fact that they have more years of experience with peers than their MA-match (younger) peers, the peer social networks of children with Down syndrome may even come to approximate those of children in the CA-match group in the classroom context. However, in view of the apparent social competence problems of children with Down syndrome noted above, it is also possible that important aspects of the peer social networks of children with Down syndrome may turn out to be less well developed than even typically developing children similar in developmental level. If this is the case, it emphasizes the need and urgency for highly specialized peer competence interventions for this subgroup of children with delays. Finally, we examined the degree to which teachers recognized that dyads involving children with Down syndrome and their playmates required special approaches to foster their social interactions. If so, teachers should report more extensive efforts to facilitate and directly assist children with Down syndrome to interact with peers in comparison to both matched groups of typically developing children. Although we did not determine which specific strategies teachers employed, we did obtain information with respect to the extent to which they helped children to initiate play, to maintain that play, and to resolve conflicts; i.e., critical social tasks. We also asked teachers about the extent to which they helped children regulate their emotions as well as understand social rules and other knowledge-based aspects of play. The latter constitute foundation processes for social tasks essential for supporting children’s peer-related social competence (Guralnick, 1999). Information about teacher involvement to support children’s peer interactions for social tasks may provide a useful framework to guide subsequent intervention.