Sonja Perren
Biographic Data
| ID | 121160 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sonja Perren |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sonja |
| FAMILY NAME | Perren |
| SIGNATURE | PERREN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Konstanz |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7916-4037 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 89 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Validation of an unmoderated remote version of the Theory of Mind Scale
The Theory of Mind (ToM) scale developed by Wellman and Liu (2004) is a widely used instrument to assess children's ToM through seven items of increasing difficulty. This paper introduces and evaluates an unmoderated remote version of the scale, adapted for 3- to 6-year-old Norwegian children. In Study 1, a Norwegian version of the scale was developed and tested. Study 2 implemented an unmoderated remote version of the scale, and Study 3 examined…
Peer Group Age Composition
This observational study investigated associations between classroom age composition and 3-year-olds’ engagement in Swiss mixed-age childcare, accounting for multiple contextual and individual factors. Using the inCLASS tool, observers rated 3-year-olds’ engagement with caregivers, peers, and tasks across 407 observation cycles with 54 children. Situational age composition was operationalized by four indicators: peer group age range, median age, …
Longitudinal associations between preschool children’s theory of mind, emotion understanding, and positive peer relationships
The positive links between children’s theory of mind (ToM), emotion understanding, and positive peer relationships are well established. However, the existing literature lacks comprehensive studies investigating the longitudinal interplay between these components in preschool-aged children. This study aimed to fill this gap by examining the concurrent and longitudinal associations between young children’s social cognition and their positive peer …
The impact of social pretend play on preschoolers’ social development
This controlled intervention study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design investigated whether promoting children's social pretend play quality fosters their social development. Twenty-seven Swiss playgroups (N = 211 children, age: M = 43.3 months, SD= 6.5, with a median of 7 children per group) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: Play tutoring, provision of role play material, or control. Standardized tests …
Toddlers’ peer engagement in Swiss childcare
The present study observed 86 three-year-old children ( M = 43.7, SD = 6.4) from 15 Swiss childcare groups, to investigate multiple individual and contextual contributions to toddlers’ positive engagement with peers. The children’s individual characteristics (age, sex and social skills) and childcare-related predictors (emotional and behavioural support from caregivers, and structural group features) were assessed. We employed the child-by-enviro…
Fostering children’s social pretend play competence and social skills through play tutoring
Training studies have shown the positive effects of play tutoring on children’s social skills. This study investigates whether the theoretically suggested mechanism of change—social pretend play quality—explains the effect of play tutoring on social pretend play competence and social skills. Twenty-seven Swiss playgroups ( N = 214 three- to four-year-olds) participated in a randomized intervention study with three conditions: the intervention gro…
Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Education and Care
Self-efficacy is an important predictor of people’s behaviour and wellbeing. In this longitudinal study we investigated patterns of stability and change in early childhood educator self-efficacy (ESE) in child-centred educational practice and its predictors. Early childhood educators completed a questionnaire twice. Latent profile analysis yielded four profiles: decrease profile (21.2%), increase profile (25.0%), low profile (9.6%), and high prof…
Promoting Social Pretend Play in Preschool Age
This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the experimental conditions: material (n=4 groups, n=35 children), play tutoring (n=5 groups, n=32 children),…
Promoting peer interactions in an inclusive preschool in China
This study examined strategies teachers applied to promote peer interactions between children with and without Special Educational Needs (SEN) in an inclusive preschool in Shanghai, China. Qualitative case study was used in which seven teachers from four inclusive classrooms participated. In-depth participatory observation and online documents were collected and qualitative content analysis was applied to analyse the data. The key finding suggest…
Assessing Preschool Children’s Social Pretend Play Competence
Pretend play may be beneficial for young children’s social development. However, empirical results to date are inconsistent and limited, which is partly due to a lack of psychometrically sound measures for children’s social pretend play competence. The current study aimed to compare and validate different assessment methods for children’s social pretend play competence. In total, 64 3- to 4-year-old children participated in the study (age: M = 46…
The emergence of dyadic pretend play quality during peer play
The quality of social pretend play may have a positive impact on children's development. This study investigated to what degree this quality is a characteristic of a child versus a function of the play partner or the specific pairing of two children. For this purpose, preschool children's general pretend play quality (actor effect), their general influence on their play partner's pretend play quality (partner effect) and the role of the specific …
Let us play together! Can play tutoring stimulate children’s social pretend play level
Social pretend play may have a positive impact on children’s social development because it involves positive peer interactions and challenges their social-cognitive abilities. The current study aimed to investigate whether variations in play tutors’ active support and play management are associated with variations in children’s social pretend play level in the context of a pretend play tutoring intervention. Moreover, the moderating role of child…
Self, peer, and teacher reports of victim‐aggressor networks in kindergartens
This study investigated if and how children and teachers differ in their assessment of victim-aggressor relationships in kindergartens. Self-, peer, and teacher reports of victimization-aggression networks (who is victimized by whom) were investigated in 25 Swiss kindergartens with 402 5- to 7-years-old. It was examined whether child characteristics (sex and parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior) influence informant reports of …
Ignoring Children's Bedtime Crying
Ignoring children's bedtime crying (ICBC) is an issue that polarizes parents as well as pediatricians. While most studies have focused on the effectiveness of sleep interventions, no study has yet questioned which parents use ICBC. Parents often find children's sleep difficulties to be very challenging, but factors such as the influence of Western approaches to infant care, stress, and sensitivity have not been analyzed in terms of ICBC. A sample…
Everything’s Gonna be Alright! The Longitudinal Interplay among Social Support, Peer Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms
Child-centred educational practice in different early education settings
Soziale Kompetenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen
Im Zuge steigender gesellschaftlicher Unsicherheit sind soziale Kompetenzen zentral für eine gelungene Entwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen und Grundlage der sozialen Inklusion in einer diversen Zivilgesellschaft. Über welche sozialen Kompetenzen verfügen Heranwachsende, und wie können sie wirksam gefördert werden? Diese Fragen stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs, in dem renommierte deutschsprachige Forschende ihre wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse…
The Coping with Cyberbullying Questionnaire
Victims of cyberbullying report a number of undesirable outcomes regarding their well-being, especially those who are not able to successfully cope with cyber victimization. Research on coping with cyberbullying has identified a number of different coping strategies that seem to be differentially adaptive in cases of cyber victimization. However, knowledge regarding the effectiveness of these strategies is scarce. This scarcity is partially due t…
Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying
Peer victimisation and depressive symptoms
This longitudinal study investigated whether cybervictimisation is an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms over and beyond traditional victimisation in adolescents. Furthermore, it explored whether certain coping strategies moderate the impact of cybervictimisation on depressive symptoms. A total of 765 Swiss seventh graders (mean age at time-point 1 (t1) = 13.18 years) reported on the frequency of traditional and cybervictimisation, an…
Cyberbullying and traditional bullying in adolescence
The aim of this study was to investigate whether different aspects of morality predict traditional bullying and cyberbullying behaviour in a similar way. Students between 12 and 19 years participated in an online study. They reported on the frequency of different traditional and cyberbullying behaviours andcompleted self-report measures on moral emotions and moral values. A scenario approach with open questions was used to assess morally disengag…
Longitudinal Risk Factors for Cyberbullying in Adolescence
Cyberbullying has emerged as a new form of antisocial behaviour in the context of online communication over the last decade. The present study investigates potential longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying. A total of 835 Swiss seventh graders participated in a short‐term longitudinal study (two assessments 6 months apart). Students reported on the frequency of cyberbullying, traditional bullying, rule‐breaking behaviour, cybervictimisation, …
Does body mass index in childhood predict restraint eating in early adolescence
Bullying in school and cyberspace
Overall, cyber-victimisation emerged as an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms in adolescents involved in bullying.
Child and family characteristics as risk factors for peer victimization in kindergarten
The current study investigates whether children’s difficulties (symptoms, verbal ability) mediate the impact of family variables (emotional family environment, parental education level and foreign citizenship) on peer victimization. Teachers and parents completed questionnaires; children completed the Berkeley Puppet Interview and a verbal ability test at the ages of 5 and 6 (N=163). Results show that child and family characteristics independentl…
Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying
Longitudinal Risk Factors for Cyberbullying in Adolescence
Cyberbullying has emerged as a new form of antisocial behaviour in the context of online communication over the last decade. The present study investigates potential longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying. A total of 835 Swiss seventh graders participated in a short‐term longitudinal study (two assessments 6 months apart). Students reported on the frequency of cyberbullying, traditional bullying, rule‐breaking behaviour, cybervictimisation, …
Everything’s Gonna be Alright! The Longitudinal Interplay among Social Support, Peer Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms
The impact of social pretend play on preschoolers’ social development
This controlled intervention study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design investigated whether promoting children's social pretend play quality fosters their social development. Twenty-seven Swiss playgroups (N = 211 children, age: M = 43.3 months, SD= 6.5, with a median of 7 children per group) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: Play tutoring, provision of role play material, or control. Standardized tests …
Child-centred educational practice in different early education settings
Does body mass index in childhood predict restraint eating in early adolescence
Promoting peer interactions in an inclusive preschool in China
This study examined strategies teachers applied to promote peer interactions between children with and without Special Educational Needs (SEN) in an inclusive preschool in Shanghai, China. Qualitative case study was used in which seven teachers from four inclusive classrooms participated. In-depth participatory observation and online documents were collected and qualitative content analysis was applied to analyse the data. The key finding suggest…
The emergence of dyadic pretend play quality during peer play
The quality of social pretend play may have a positive impact on children's development. This study investigated to what degree this quality is a characteristic of a child versus a function of the play partner or the specific pairing of two children. For this purpose, preschool children's general pretend play quality (actor effect), their general influence on their play partner's pretend play quality (partner effect) and the role of the specific …
Let us play together! Can play tutoring stimulate children’s social pretend play level
Social pretend play may have a positive impact on children’s social development because it involves positive peer interactions and challenges their social-cognitive abilities. The current study aimed to investigate whether variations in play tutors’ active support and play management are associated with variations in children’s social pretend play level in the context of a pretend play tutoring intervention. Moreover, the moderating role of child…
Self, peer, and teacher reports of victim‐aggressor networks in kindergartens
This study investigated if and how children and teachers differ in their assessment of victim-aggressor relationships in kindergartens. Self-, peer, and teacher reports of victimization-aggression networks (who is victimized by whom) were investigated in 25 Swiss kindergartens with 402 5- to 7-years-old. It was examined whether child characteristics (sex and parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior) influence informant reports of …
Ignoring Children's Bedtime Crying
Ignoring children's bedtime crying (ICBC) is an issue that polarizes parents as well as pediatricians. While most studies have focused on the effectiveness of sleep interventions, no study has yet questioned which parents use ICBC. Parents often find children's sleep difficulties to be very challenging, but factors such as the influence of Western approaches to infant care, stress, and sensitivity have not been analyzed in terms of ICBC. A sample…
The Coping with Cyberbullying Questionnaire
Victims of cyberbullying report a number of undesirable outcomes regarding their well-being, especially those who are not able to successfully cope with cyber victimization. Research on coping with cyberbullying has identified a number of different coping strategies that seem to be differentially adaptive in cases of cyber victimization. However, knowledge regarding the effectiveness of these strategies is scarce. This scarcity is partially due t…
Soziale Kompetenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen
Im Zuge steigender gesellschaftlicher Unsicherheit werden soziale Kompetenzen zunehmend für eine gelungene Entwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen gefordert. Über welche sozialen Kompetenzen verfügen Heranwachsende, und wie können sie wirksam gefördert werden? Diese Fragen stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs, in dem renommierte deutschsprachige Forschende ihre neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zur Entwicklung und Förderung sozialer Kompetenz …
Parental psychopathology, marital quality, and the transition to parenthood
This study of 80 expectant first-time parents investigated the associations among marital quality, parental psychiatric disorders, and parents' capacity to form triadic relationships (Triadic Capacity). The results suggest that marital quality as well as maternal and paternal psychopathology affect child and family development as early as pregnancy, when parents prepare themselves to integrate the future child into their relational world
A Two-Level Confirmatory Factor Analysis of a Modified Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
Classical factor analysis assumes independent and identically distributed observations. Educational data, however, are often hierarchically structured, with, for example, students being nested within classes. In this study, data on self-esteem gathered in a sample of 1,107 students within 72 school classes in Switzerland were analyzed using two-level confirmatory factor analysis. Considering a sequence of two-level confirmatory factor models, the…
Special Reviewers
Social behavior and peer relationships of victims, bully‐victims, and bullies in kindergarten
Background: Although the prevalence of bully/victim problems in school‐age children and adolescents has been investigated in many countries, only a few studies have been carried out among younger children. This study examines social behaviors and peer relationships of children involved in bully/victim problems in kindergarten. Methods: Three hundred and forty‐four five‐ to seven‐year‐old children participated. Children were categorized as victims…
Soziale Kompetenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen
Im Zuge steigender gesellschaftlicher Unsicherheit werden soziale Kompetenzen zunehmend für eine gelungene Entwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen gefordert. Über welche sozialen Kompetenzen verfügen Heranwachsende, und wie können sie wirksam gefördert werden? Diese Fragen stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs, in dem renommierte deutschsprachige Forschende ihre neuesten wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zur Entwicklung und Förderung sozialer Kompetenz …
Child and family characteristics as risk factors for peer victimization in kindergarten
The current study investigates whether children’s difficulties (symptoms, verbal ability) mediate the impact of family variables (emotional family environment, parental education level and foreign citizenship) on peer victimization. Teachers and parents completed questionnaires; children completed the Berkeley Puppet Interview and a verbal ability test at the ages of 5 and 6 (N=163). Results show that child and family characteristics independentl…
Children’s Peer Victimization, Empathy, and Emotional Symptoms
Bullying in school and cyberspace
Overall, cyber-victimisation emerged as an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms in adolescents involved in bullying.
Peer victimisation and depressive symptoms
This longitudinal study investigated whether cybervictimisation is an additional risk factor for depressive symptoms over and beyond traditional victimisation in adolescents. Furthermore, it explored whether certain coping strategies moderate the impact of cybervictimisation on depressive symptoms. A total of 765 Swiss seventh graders (mean age at time-point 1 (t1) = 13.18 years) reported on the frequency of traditional and cybervictimisation, an…
Cyberbullying and traditional bullying in adolescence
The aim of this study was to investigate whether different aspects of morality predict traditional bullying and cyberbullying behaviour in a similar way. Students between 12 and 19 years participated in an online study. They reported on the frequency of different traditional and cyberbullying behaviours andcompleted self-report measures on moral emotions and moral values. A scenario approach with open questions was used to assess morally disengag…
Longitudinal Risk Factors for Cyberbullying in Adolescence
Cyberbullying has emerged as a new form of antisocial behaviour in the context of online communication over the last decade. The present study investigates potential longitudinal risk factors for cyberbullying. A total of 835 Swiss seventh graders participated in a short‐term longitudinal study (two assessments 6 months apart). Students reported on the frequency of cyberbullying, traditional bullying, rule‐breaking behaviour, cybervictimisation, …
Does body mass index in childhood predict restraint eating in early adolescence
Is Cyberbullying Worse than Traditional Bullying? Examining the Differential Roles of Medium, Publicity, and Anonymity for the Perceived Severity of Bullying
Soziale Kompetenz bei Kindern und Jugendlichen
Im Zuge steigender gesellschaftlicher Unsicherheit sind soziale Kompetenzen zentral für eine gelungene Entwicklung von Kindern und Jugendlichen und Grundlage der sozialen Inklusion in einer diversen Zivilgesellschaft. Über welche sozialen Kompetenzen verfügen Heranwachsende, und wie können sie wirksam gefördert werden? Diese Fragen stehen im Mittelpunkt des Buchs, in dem renommierte deutschsprachige Forschende ihre wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse…
The Coping with Cyberbullying Questionnaire
Victims of cyberbullying report a number of undesirable outcomes regarding their well-being, especially those who are not able to successfully cope with cyber victimization. Research on coping with cyberbullying has identified a number of different coping strategies that seem to be differentially adaptive in cases of cyber victimization. However, knowledge regarding the effectiveness of these strategies is scarce. This scarcity is partially due t…
Child-centred educational practice in different early education settings
Everything’s Gonna be Alright! The Longitudinal Interplay among Social Support, Peer Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms
Ignoring Children's Bedtime Crying
Ignoring children's bedtime crying (ICBC) is an issue that polarizes parents as well as pediatricians. While most studies have focused on the effectiveness of sleep interventions, no study has yet questioned which parents use ICBC. Parents often find children's sleep difficulties to be very challenging, but factors such as the influence of Western approaches to infant care, stress, and sensitivity have not been analyzed in terms of ICBC. A sample…
Let us play together! Can play tutoring stimulate children’s social pretend play level
Social pretend play may have a positive impact on children’s social development because it involves positive peer interactions and challenges their social-cognitive abilities. The current study aimed to investigate whether variations in play tutors’ active support and play management are associated with variations in children’s social pretend play level in the context of a pretend play tutoring intervention. Moreover, the moderating role of child…
Self, peer, and teacher reports of victim‐aggressor networks in kindergartens
This study investigated if and how children and teachers differ in their assessment of victim-aggressor relationships in kindergartens. Self-, peer, and teacher reports of victimization-aggression networks (who is victimized by whom) were investigated in 25 Swiss kindergartens with 402 5- to 7-years-old. It was examined whether child characteristics (sex and parent-reported internalizing and externalizing behavior) influence informant reports of …
Assessing Preschool Children’s Social Pretend Play Competence
Pretend play may be beneficial for young children’s social development. However, empirical results to date are inconsistent and limited, which is partly due to a lack of psychometrically sound measures for children’s social pretend play competence. The current study aimed to compare and validate different assessment methods for children’s social pretend play competence. In total, 64 3- to 4-year-old children participated in the study (age: M = 46…
The emergence of dyadic pretend play quality during peer play
The quality of social pretend play may have a positive impact on children's development. This study investigated to what degree this quality is a characteristic of a child versus a function of the play partner or the specific pairing of two children. For this purpose, preschool children's general pretend play quality (actor effect), their general influence on their play partner's pretend play quality (partner effect) and the role of the specific …
Self-Efficacy in Early Childhood Education and Care
Self-efficacy is an important predictor of people’s behaviour and wellbeing. In this longitudinal study we investigated patterns of stability and change in early childhood educator self-efficacy (ESE) in child-centred educational practice and its predictors. Early childhood educators completed a questionnaire twice. Latent profile analysis yielded four profiles: decrease profile (21.2%), increase profile (25.0%), low profile (9.6%), and high prof…
Promoting Social Pretend Play in Preschool Age
This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the experimental conditions: material (n=4 groups, n=35 children), play tutoring (n=5 groups, n=32 children),…
Promoting peer interactions in an inclusive preschool in China
This study examined strategies teachers applied to promote peer interactions between children with and without Special Educational Needs (SEN) in an inclusive preschool in Shanghai, China. Qualitative case study was used in which seven teachers from four inclusive classrooms participated. In-depth participatory observation and online documents were collected and qualitative content analysis was applied to analyse the data. The key finding suggest…
Psychology (27 works) · Developmental psychology (23 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Child Development and Digital Technology (14 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (13 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression (10 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works) · Poison control (8 works)