Verification of longitudinal causal relationship between children's peer play interaction and social-emotional development

Objectives This study aimed to validate the longitudinal patterns of peer play interaction in young children and empirically analyze their longitudinal relationship with social-emotional development. Methods The subjects of the study used data from 639 people in the 5th(2012), 6th(2013), and 7th(2015) years of the Korean Children's Panel. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 26 and M-plus 8 programs. Through descriptive statistics and M-plus latent growth models, the study identified the patterns of change in children's peer play interactions. It also conducted cross-analysis using the latent class growth model-derived change type group variables, and performed multiple regression analysis to verify the impact of peer play interaction change types on social-emotional development. Results First, as a result of the analysis of the latent class growth model, it was confirmed that group 1 maintained a high level, group 2 decreased a high level, and group 3 decreased a low level. Second, significant differences in demographic characteristics such as gender, birth order, and maternal education were found according to the types of changes in peer play interaction. In terms of their impact on social-emotional development, it was confirmed that maintaining a high level was associated with a higher level of social-emotional development compared to maintaining a low level. However, the decrease in a high level did not show a difference in social-emotional development compared to maintaining a low level. Conclusions Based on the analysis of the results, this study suggests that continuous intervention is necessary not only at the initial stage but also to maintain the effectiveness of peer play interactions on social skills.