Changes in preschool children’s social engagement positively predict changes in social competence: A three‐year longitudinal study of portuguese children

To test the hypothesis that social engagement is a founda‐ tional aspect of other peer social competence indicators during early childhood, 160 Portuguese preschool chil‐ dren (“3‐year‐olds”) were observed at least in two different school years, using a battery of validated social competence assessments based on direct observations and child inter‐ views. Multilevel growth models tested whether social en‐ gagement predicted initial values and linear changes in the other social competence indicators. Results were consist‐ ent with the hypothesis, insofar as both initial values and changes in social engagement significantly predicted initial values and changes in other social competence indicators. Additionally, the number of children's reciprocated friend‐ ships was also predicted by social engagement. These re‐ sults are discussed from the perspectives of conceptual frameworks that consider individual differences in social competence during early childhood as a consequence of at‐ tachment histories and/or emotional competence.