The relationship between social behavior and emergent literacy among preschool boys and girls

The purpose of the present study was to investigate relationships between social behaviors and emergent literacy among young children, and sex differences in these relationships. Participants were 123 ethnically and socioeconomically diverse preschoolers (63 girls, 60 boys). Social behaviors were observed in classrooms, and emergent literacy skills were assessed with standardized tests. Among boys, difficulties with emergent literacy were associated with aggressive misbehavior and fewer prosocial interactions, while neither of these relationships was observed for girls. Emergent literacy difficulties in both boys and girls were related to higher levels of solitary play and more frequent displays of negative affect. These findings suggest that learning problems in girls may be associated with different, less obvious factors than in boys.