This study investigated the links between the family and peer systems by examining whether mothers ' beliefs about social skills and management practices of peer interactions were related to their children ' s social relations with peers . The sample was comprised of 185 mothers of preschool children , ranging in age from 44 to 81 months , who resided in Seoul , Korea. Children of the participating mothers were enrolled in center- based preschool programs. Mothers were asked to complete the Maternal Beliefs Scale, the Mothers ' Management Strategies Scale, and demographic measures. Using the Child Behavior Scale, teachers rated the social competence of each child whose mother returned a set of questionnaires. The findings suggested that most Korean mothers in this sample highly rated the importance of preschoolers' social development. They believed that social skills were amenable to modification , rather than innate. Whereas mothers in this study were frequently involved in direct or indirect monitoring of children ' s social activities, they infrequently engaged in direct management of peer relationships. The results also showed that mothers who assigned greater importance to social skills and believed that the social skills of their children could be obtained by direct parental teaching were more likely to manage their children ' s social activities. In addition , mothers who made more efforts to enhance their children ' s social skills were more likely to have socially competent children with peers. Additionally , younger mothers attached greater importance to social skills than older mothers and were more likely to attribute the experience factor to these skills. Employed mothers , as compared to nonemployed mothers , also made more external attributions for the development of social skills.

This study explored the links between maternal beliefs about the importance of children's social skills, modes of obtaining social skills, management strategies, and children's social competence. Subjects were 67 mothers whose 3- and 4-year-old children attended one of five preschools in Cache Valley, Utah. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their beliefs about the importance of social skills, their beliefs about how children acquire social skills, and the ways they are involved in their children 's peer relationships. Demographic measures were also completed by the mothers. Classroom teachers completed the Child Behavior Scale on every child in their class, regardless of maternal participation, in order to measure the child's social skills with peers. The results showed that mothers who returned the questionnaires were significantly more likely to have children with lower social competence. Mothers believed that social skills were important for preschool children and rated resolving conflicts, making friends, and sharing as more important than sticking-up for oneself or being a leader. Mothers were slightly more likely to believe that social skills were acquired as a result of innate characteristics. However, they were also more likely to choose an experience explanation for not being considerate of others ' feelings and choose an innate explanation for children who were considerate of other children's feelings. When ranking modes of acquisition, mothers who chose an experience or teaching explanation were less likely to believe that social skills were influenced by innate characteristics of the child. Mothers who believed that children gain social skills through experience were also more likely to have children with lower social competence. When testing the hypotheses, links between maternal beliefs about the importance of social skills, maternal management strategies, and children 's social competence were not found. No differences were found between maternal beliefs or management strategies of mothers of 3-year-olds and mothers of 4-year-olds. There were also no statistically significant differences in mothers' beliefs or management strategies based upon children's gender. Children's age and gender were not found to be related to children's social competence.