Gender differences in children's social competence development from eighteen months to seven years old using the interaction rating scale (IRS)

The purpose of this paper is to describe the gender differences of social competence development using the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) from eighteen months to seven year old. The participants in our study, which was conducted as part of a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) cohort study project, were 370 dyads of children with their caregivers who were followed up and surveyed at eighteen and thirty months and 82 dyads at seven years old. The participants completed the five minute interaction session and were observed using the IRS. The results indicated the gender differences of IRS scores. Girls achieved a higher score at all ages. Girls were more likely to demonstrate empathy at eighteen months, emotional regulation at eighteen months and thirty months, motor regulation at thirty months and seven years old, compared to boys. Along with the patterns of difference between boys and girls, the IRS is effective in describing features of social competence development.