THE PEER-NETWORKS OF 9-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN - THE RELATION BETWEEN NETWORK-RESOURCES, CHILD COMPETENCE, AND MATERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF SOCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

The relations between characteristics of children's social networks, m others' role as ''gatekeepers'' of children's social contacts, and chi ld competence were examined. The investigation is part of a longitudin al study involving 39 children and their families. We developed a netw ork game for children in order to assess self-report data on children' s social networks at the age of six and nine. These findings indicate that only a few complex network measures, e.g. the number of older pee rs and the number of opposite-sex friends, correlate meaningfully with the child's competence as rated by parents and teachers. When those c hildren, who overestimated the number of their friends, were excluded from data analysis, we obtained even more significant correlations. Ch ildren whose mothers made special efforts to encourage children's soci al contacts reported fewer peer relations and scored lower on social c ompetence. Thus, their mothers seem to respond to deficits they percei ved in their children's social development. Only children whose mother s showed a high degree of empathy when arranging opportunities for pee r contact were found to be more competent, and they included more olde r peers in their social networks. Longitudinal data show that this mat ernal empathy is embedded in a generally harmonious family climate.