Peer relations in childhood

We present a developmental model that describes normal peer relations and highlights processes that underlie the emergence of problems with peers in childhood. We propose that children's relationships with peers begin in the first years of life, with stable individual differences and preferences for particular peers emerging by three years of age. Social skills that facilitate peer relationships consolidate in the preschool years, during which time peer groups become structured with respect to friendship groups, gender, and dominance relations; some children begin to be rejected by their peers. In later childhood some children develop entrenched problems with peer relationships, in terms of loneliness,…