Communication with peers as a condition for effective social adaptation of children of senior preschool age

Introduction. The activity of transformations taking place in modern society, the instability and unpredictability of social processes, objectively places increased demands on the individual, who needs, on the one hand, to meet social requirements, and on the other, to maintain internal stability and balance. It is no coincidence that the most important problem studied by modern scientists is the problem of creating optimal conditions for effective social adaptation of the individual and his full sociocultural development. Of particular interest is the study of the specifics of socialization of preschool children. The purpose of this study is to study the influence of communication with peers on the social adaptation of children of senior preschool age. Materials and methods. The study involved 100 children aged 5-6 years (50 boys and 50 girls) – pupils of preschool educational organizations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod. In order to establish objective connections and interdependencies, a statistical data processing method was used (descriptive statistics, Kruskal – Wallis test, Pearson correlation coefficient). KEYWORDS Results. The study revealed a distribution by level of communication that is inappropriate for older preschool age: only 27% of children demonstrate a high level of communication with peers. The vast majority (71% of respondents) are at an average level or even a low level of communication development), which negatively affected the level of their social adaptation. They are characterized by the absence of active interest in peers, the time of their interaction with peers is short, and contacts are not typical for older preschoolers (short phrases or questions of a stating nature), these children resolve emerging conflict situations either through aggression or by resorting to the active help of the teacher. 2% of respondents demonstrate a low level of communication with peers: they are aggressive, unsociable, prefer solitary games. Namely: the higher the level of communication of children with peers, the higher the level of their social adaptation. And vice versa: the more difficult it is for children to communicate with peers, the more asocial forms of behavioral manifestations are recorded in them towards peers. Conclusion. The results of the empirical study became the basis for developing a model of psychological and pedagogical support for the process of socialization of children of senior preschool age. The emphasis in this program was the sphere of communication