Agonistic behaviour and social adjustment in preschool children.

The aim of this study is to explain the relationship between agonistic behaviours and social adjustment at preschool age. Nineteen preschool children, 4 to 5 aged, were video-recorded at a Cadiz (Spain) public school. Children's behaviours were registered using a focal and continuous sampling method. Social adjustment was measured with an index of flexibility of behaviour (IF), defined by the authors. A multiple regression model shows that agonistic behaviours contribute to the behavioural flexibility of children. The agonistic behaviours probably are substituted by others more complex, during development. But this study suggests that, when children are 4 to 5 years old, the agonistic behaviours seem to be useful for the social adjustment in peers groups, if they are not developed neither in an exclusive or recurrent way.