Beyond diagnosis: the relevance of social interactions for participation in inclusive preschool settings

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Special Education
• Inclusive Preschool Settings

Background:

• Understanding child-environment interactions is crucial for development and learning, especially for children with disabilities.
• Existing research often categorizes children by diagnosis, potentially overlooking individual participation profiles.
• A biopsychosocial framework highlights proximal variables like engagement, independence, and social interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if children with disabilities can be clustered based on engagement, independence, and social interaction patterns.
• To determine if diagnostic categories align with these participation-based clusters.
• To examine the influence of child characteristics and preschool environment on cluster formation.

Main Methods:

• A person-centered cluster analysis was employed using data from an intervention study in mainstream Portuguese preschools.
• Children's engagement, independence, and social interaction profiles were analyzed to identify group membership.
• The study explored variations in clusters based on individual child and environmental factors.

Main Results:

• Children were successfully clustered based on similarities in engagement, independence, and social interaction patterns, irrespective of their diagnosis.
• The quality of peer interaction emerged as the sole significant predictor of cluster membership.
• Diagnostic categories did not predict group formation.

Conclusions:

• Participation profiles, rather than diagnostic labels, offer more valuable insights for tailoring interventions for children with disabilities.
• The quality of the preschool environment, particularly peer interactions, plays a critical role in fostering children's participation.
• These findings advocate for a shift towards individualized, participation-focused approaches in inclusive early childhood education.