Interactive Contributions of Attribution Biases and Emotional Intensity to Child-Friend Interaction Quality During Preadolescence

Abstract

Using data from a subsample of 913 study children and their friends who participated in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the interactive contributions of child-reported attribution biases and teacher-reported child emotional intensity (EI) at Grade 4 (M = 9.9 years) to observed child-friend interaction at Grade 6 (M = 11.9 years) were examined. Study children's hostile attribution bias, combined with high EI, predicted more negative child-friend interaction. In contrast, benign attribution bias, combined with high EI, predicted more positive child-friend interaction. The findings are discussed in light of the "fuel" interpretation of EI, in which high-intensity emotions may motivate children to act on their cognitive biases for better or for worse.