ABSTRACT
Only recently has middle childhood garnered serious research attention, as children’s early experiences were once thought to be the driving, and even immutable, force behind adult development and behavior. An emphasis on the influence of early childhood left little room for interest in family interaction beyond the first few years (Goodnow, 2006). Over the past few decades this view has been substantively challenged. In 1984, a landmark report concluded that the experiences of middle childhood played a more critical predictive role in later adolescence and adulthood than did those of early childhood (Collins, 1984). In summarizing a more recent longitudinal series of studies Huston and Ripke (2006) reached a similar conclusion: “Although the preschool years establish the base for future development, experiences in middle childhood can sustain, magnify, or reverse the advantages or disadvantages that children acquire in the preschool years” (p. 2). It is now accepted that middle childhood experiences are of consequence. One type of
such middle childhood experience, interaction with parents and siblings, is the focus here. Attention is given to the role parenting, coparenting, parental differential treatment to siblings, and to the role sibling relationships appear to play in school age children’s immediate assets (i.e., social competencies) and engagement in risky behaviors. Social competencies are of concern due to their associations with peer competencies and hence appropriate socialization. Risky behaviors are deemed significant for the immediate health and well-being of the child. Middle childhood, often referred to as “school age,” is generally considered as
approximately five to 12 years of age. The beginning is marked by the entry into formal education, around age five in most Western societies. Thirteen is considered to be the entry point into adolescence and thus the end of middle childhood. The ultimate goal during this period is the appropriate socialization of the child into adolescence and adulthood. Though family structures and forms vary greatly, when children are involved the family is charged with the function of socialization (Lerner & Spainer, 1978). Once considered the task of the mother, increasingly socialization is recognized as occurring within a family system (Bowen, 1978). Attention has turned to parenting by both parents, the interaction between parents, and the influence of siblings. Of course, what counts as appropriate socialization varies considerably by culture and
time (Goode & Jones, 2008). Even within the U.S.A., during the past century cultural
emphasis has shifted away from compliance and obedience of the school age child (Smith, 1999) to social competencies (Peterson & Hann, 1999). These social skills should manifest in peer proficiency and academic achievement (Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson, & Collins, 2005). It is during middle childhood that children must demonstrate the ability to navigate school achievement and peer relationships in order to successfully transition into adolescence and adulthood (DeFries, Plomin, & Fulker, 1994). The domains generally prioritized as the tasks of middle childhood, not surprisingly, mirror those prioritized by current Western society as appropriate adult socialization: relational and occupational success. Though both academic and peer success are considered developmental tasks of this
age, greater attention to peer success is granted here. Even so, it should be noted that peer relationships and academic achievement are inter-related and both are associated with immediate health and well-being of the child. Children who fare well in school have fewer behavioral problems in the short run and higher life satisfaction and more successful relationships in the long run (Durlak, 2001).
