A 6‐year longitudinal exploration of diversity in ethnically/racially minoritized children's early peer circles

Abstract

Exposure to diverse peers can expand children's experiences and skillsets, and these positive effects linger beyond childhood. Yet, little is known about the ethnic/racial, gender, and age diversity in children's peer groups and how it may shift over time. Even less is known about these patterns among US nonwhite children. In the present study, we thus explored how diversity (with regard to ethnicity/race, gender, and age) in ethnically minoritized children's peer groups change from infancy through early childhood and tested whether the diversity of early peer groups remained stable across time. Over a 6‐year period we followed 234 children (ages 1–6; 115 girls) from three large ethnic/racial minority groups in the United States: African American, Dominican American, and Mexican American. With age, children's peer groups increased in ethnic/racial diversity but decreased in gender and age diversity. Moreover, children's early peer diversity (at/around age 2–4) positively predicted the diversity of their later peer groups (at/around age 6) across all three types of diversity. This study provides novel insights into how children's peer groups change and grow in early development, particularly focusing on children from backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in psychological science.