Interplay between peer experiences and classroom behavioral engagement throughout early childhood: Intraindividual and interindividual differences.

Developmental theorists emphasize the existence of reciprocal influences between children's peer experiences and their early classroom behavioral engagement. For school practitioners who must identify relevant intervention targets to design educational activities, estimating precisely how aspects of peer experiences and behavioral engagement jointly unfold over time is of key interest. In addition, it is important to differentiate between intraindividual and interindividual effects. Nevertheless, evidence of these reciprocal links or intra- and interindividual effects during the early stages of schooling is scarce. This study (N = 638 children) used a Latent Curve Model with Structured Residuals (LCM-SR) to disentangle interindividual differences (stable trait-like) from intraindividual changes (dynamic state-like) in the associations between peer experiences (social acceptance and friendship involvement) and children's classroom behavioral engagement from the beginning of kindergarten through Grade 2. Results indicated that the links between children's peer experiences and their behavioral engagement reflect their steady tendency to be well adjusted in the classroom as well as with peers, rather than highlighting reciprocal associations between these factors over time. However, results also underscored that children who showed high engagement tended to be concurrently more accepted by peers in the same school year in Grade 1 or Grade 2, beyond stable aspects of engagement and social acceptance. These findings support the need to develop educational practices to improve social acceptance as a way to foster behavioral engagement. They also indicate that behavioral engagement should be considered a concrete intervention target for school practitioners seeking to improve children's social acceptance during the school year.

Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Their Emotional State, Relationships with Parents, Challenges, and Opportunities During the Early Stage of the Pandemic.

This article presents a study about the impact of COVID-19 on childcare center educators in Quebec (Canada). Regulated childcare services were closed due to the pandemic between March 16 and May 31, 2020, in areas considered "hot" (highly affected by the pandemic). During this time, some centers were transformed into "emergency childcare services" available to parents considered to be essential workers. Therefore, few children attended, and most educators worked remotely. In May 2020, 372 educators completed an online questionnaire regarding their emotional state, challenges, and learning opportunities. Results indicate that half of the respondents reported a decrease in their level of well-being at work and an increase in their stress level. Educators working remotely were more likely to report a lower level of stress than when working with children at daycare (36.1% vs 19.7%). Despite these findings, educators estimated that the parents who used their emergency childcare service presented either high (37.7%) or average (32.2%) levels of wellbeing. The factors that educators identified as facilitating their interactions with families included parental recognition of their work (11.68%) and direct contact with them (12.62%). While many tasks accomplished at home were done for the first time during this period (i.e., creating video capsules for children and parents, virtual meetings with children and colleagues), a large majority of respondents reported that these tasks made them feel useful. Working at their own pace (34.7%) was seen as the principal advantage of remote working. Finally, 28.84% mentioned that the reduced ratio (1:2 or 1:3) was a facilitating factor that they would like to maintain during the upcoming reopening phase. The discussion uses the Job Demands and Resources theoretical framework (Bakker and Demerouti in Wellbeing 3(2):1-28, 2014; Dicke et al. in J Occupat Health Psychol 23(2): 262-277, 2017) to explain the educators' work-related demands and emotional state in both remote and CPE working pandemic contexts. In conclusion, we argued that this pandemic reveals the complexity, but also the essential nature of the work of early childhood educators, in particular by identifying their needs for support and recognition essential to their professional commitment.

Typological Analysis of Victimization Profiles of Young Children.

Although the scope of violence against children has been well documented, the reality of this phenomenon remains to be examined. Using data collected during a populationbased survey on the polyvictimization of children between 2 and 11 years old, this study explores the profiles of 972 children who are victims of many forms of violence (in family, school, and/or community). Cluster analyses identified 4 groups (minimal victimization, generalized victimization, threatening environment, aggressive environment), which differ according to the forms and extent of the violence experienced. The role of age, gender, and adverse life events in forming groups is also examined, as are the links with mental health disorders. Fostering the examination of the phenomenon of violence against children in all its diversity, this taxonomy presents advantages for researchers and professionals, which are discussed.