Young Children's Social Behaviors at Preschool: A Comparison of Children from Intact Families vs. Fatherless Families

Abstract

This study examined differences in preschoolers' social behavior, as a comparison between intact families and fatherless families. One hundred and seventy-four children with two parents (M＝62.04 months) and 201 children with one parent (M＝62.91 months) were recruited from public preschools. The children's teachers assessed the following types of social behaviors during peer activities: prosocial, aggressive, hyperactive, asocial, anxious-fearful, and excluded by peers. The results showed the following: (a) there were no differences between children in intact families vs. fatherless families in terms of aggressive, hyperactive, anxious-fearful, and excluded-by-peers; (b) children in fatherless families exhibited less prosocial behavior and more asocial behavior than children in intact families; and (c) regardless of family type, children's prosocial behavior was negatively related to externalizing behaviors (aggressive and hyperactive) and internalizing behaviors (asocial and anxious-fearful), whereas externalizing/internalizing behaviors were positively related to “excluded by peers.” These findings suggest that the effect of one-parent family life on young children's externalizing behaviors may be small in Japan compared to that reported previously for children in Europe and the United States.