The relationship of group and family experiences to peer-rated aggression and popularity in middle class kindergarten children

One purpose of this study was to examine several specific hypotheses regarding differences in maternal stress, and peer-rated aggression and popularity in kindergarten children as a function of maternal employment, group experience, and gender. The study also examined the combined effects of family variables and group experience in predicting peer-rated aggression and popularity, using Bronfenbrenner's theory of social ecology to guide explorations of relationships among maternal employment, maternal self-perceptions, child temperament and sex, group experience and peer-rated aggression and popularity.;Two hundred and forty-five kindergarten children (108 girls, 137 boys) participated in the study. Information on maternal, family and child variables was collected from 189 of their mothers. Results indicated that employed mothers reported more stress, as measured by the amount of hassles experienced, than non-employed mothers. Contrary to predictions, mothers of girls reported more perceived stress than mothers of boys. Boys were rated as more aggressive than girls by their peers and girls were rated as more popular by peers than boys. Boys who spent extensive time in groups such as after-school French Programs, lunch programs, and/or after-school recreational programs were rated as more aggressive and less popular than boys who spent less time in groups and than girls, regardless of the amount of current group experience.;Results also indicated that group experience is a significant predictor of aggression for boys but not for girls. Family factors are also related to aggression and popularity in that maternal employment was related to increased stress, which in turn predicted parental harshness. Parental harshness predicted aggression and aggression was negatively related to popularity. Furthermore, difficult temperament in children was related to maternal stress and maternal harshness, and these variables mediated the influence of temperament on aggression.;These results are discussed in terms of the contribution of maternal variables, child gender and temperament, and group experience to aggressive behavior and popularity in children. The need to integrate information from many contexts to understand children's social behavior is emphasized.