The Benefits of Buddies: Strategically Pairing Preschoolers with Other-Gender Classmates Promotes Positive Peer Interactions

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: We tested whether a universal classroom peer pairing intervention – Buddy Up – would strengthen dyadic peer interactions among preschoolers (N = 140; M_age = 56.49 months; 53.6% boys; 77.9% Latinx). The Buddy Up intervention was informed by Intergroup Contact Theory, which specifies the benefits of exposure to heterogeneous others. Teachers buddied children with other-gender peers. We hypothesized positive intervention effects on the quality of dyadic interactions overall and for other-gender interactions specifically. We also considered whether the effects would generalize (secondary transfer effects) to interactions with other-language peers (English and Spanish). Using a quasi-experimental design, we found intervention effects on improved peer interactions overall and for other-gender dyads. There was little evidence of improved interactions for other-language dyads. Same-gender dyads (notably girl-girl dyads) and same-language dyads (notably English-speaking dyads) also responded positively to the intervention. The use of dyadic peer interaction data during preschool represents an innovative feature of this study. Practice or Policy: Buddy Up facilitated positive peer interactions. This is a key building block through which social skills are built and friendships can grow. The findings suggest that early childhood teachers can successfully support students in developing relationships with peers.

Acknowledgement

We thank the schools, teachers, children, and families who participated in the study. Thanks also go to the research team members who helped to collect the data. Support for this work comes from the T. Denny Sanford Foundation and the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings from the study are available upon request from the authors.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We also tried two other coding strategies: one focusing on English only versus Any Spanish, and the other focusing on Spanish only versus Any English. Results did not differ from the current, more inclusive, coding strategy by considering bilingual children as linguistically similar to both English only and Spanish only children.