Letter from the Editors
Preface
- In Between the Images: The Therapeutic Benefits of Unconscious Exposure
- A Call for the Proper Evaluation of Treatment for Co-Occuring BD and SUD
- A Meta-Analysis on Father Involvement and Early Childhood Social-Emotional Development
- Loneliness and Depression among Foster Children: The Role of Caregiver Ethnic Match
- Father Involvement in Ethnically Diverse Populations
- Book Reading Styles in Bilingual Head Start Classrooms
- Demographic and Relational Predictors of Social Self-Awareness in Urban Elementary Classrooms
- Language Attitudes of Puerto Ricans Toward English and Bilingualism
- The Stories Friends Share: Structural and Thematic Analyses
Jessica Winterstern
Narratives are essential in a child’s life promoting growth in socio-emotional and cognitive areas. Yet, the current research does not sufficiently investigate all critical contributors who influence children’s narrative development, such as peers. Storytelling interactions influence the development of children’s unique narrative styles and the bonds that develop between peers. However, there exist gaps in our understanding of how peer interactions support the development of children’s storytelling abilities, in particular how this relationship develops with age and the role gender plays in such development. The present study examined the personal narratives shared between friends across age groups and gender. Forty-eight children between the ages of 5 and 10 were asked to share stories with a same-sex friend. Stories were audio-recorded, videotaped and transcribed. Narrative interactions were coded for interactional features and themes. Interactional and thematic features were submitted to analyses of variance determining gender and age-group differences. Preliminary results showed that children told more elaborative narratives with age. Boys utilized agency themes whereas girls highlighted communion themes. Finally, girls overlapped and interrupted more so than did boys. Results are discussed in relation to the role peers and friendship play in language development.