Citation

Davis SP, Fantuzzo JW. J. Fam. Violence 1989; 4(3): 227-248.

Affiliation

Fuller Theological Seminary, Route 1, Box 2015, 04962 N. Vassalboro, Maine; Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., 19104-6216 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Copyright

(Copyright © 1989, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00980425

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The effects of programmed peer- and adult-mediated play initiations were compared for socially dysfunctional, maltreated preschool children. An N = 1, alternating treatments design was used to compare these strategies. Two withdrawn nonmaltreated (control), two withdrawn maltreated, and three aggressive maltreated children served as subjects. Dyadic play sessions were videotaped and rated at the completion of the study by naive raters according to an 18-category observation system. Overall, the control children showed no difference in levels of interaction between peer and adult conditions. The withdrawn maltreated children showed a clear preference for interaction with the peer over the adult. The aggressive maltreated children showed a clear preference for interaction with the peer over the adult. The aggressive maltreated children showed a clear preference for interaction with the adult. They also demonstrated a decrease of positive behavior and increase in negative behavior in response to the programmed initiations. Implications of these differential responses were discussed.