Washington: High-quality friendships in kindergarten spell better social skills in the first and third grades for boys and also fewer behavioral problems as compared to girls.

"The findings for girls were different," said Jennifer Engle, who co-authored the study with Nancy Mc Elwain, professor of human development at the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

"Overall, teachers reported that girls in the first and third grade had good social skills, regardless of the quality of their kindergarten friendships," said Engle in the journal, Infant and Child Development reports.

"Boys, on the other hand, clearly benefited from the good start that early high-quality friendships provide," added Engle, according to an Illinois statement.

She said, "The differences in friendship quality for boys versus girls did not show up until the children were older."

"Boys who had no friends in kindergarten had more behavioral problems, but not until they had reached first and third grades," Engle said.

The researchers examined data from 567 children who had participated in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study of early child care and youth development.

Engle further remarked "As we expected, high-quality kindergarten friendships that featured cooperation and sharing, taking turns, low levels of hostility, and little destructive conflict, gave children, especially boys, practice in positive interaction, which they demonstrated in grades one and three." IANS