Sarah Doumen

Classroom problem behavior and teacher-child relationships in kindergarten: the moderating role of classroom climate.

Young children with problem behavior in the classroom are at risk for developing more conflictual and less close relationships with their teachers. Two studies in kindergarten (N=3798; N=237) shed light on some aspects of classroom climate that can moderate this risk for relational problems. Results showed problematic classroom compositions, in terms of high average levels of internalizing or externalizing behavior, to exacerbate the risk for teachers to form more conflictual relationships with children showing externalizing behavior. Additionally, observed emotional support of teachers was found to be protective for the relational functioning of children at risk due to maladjusted behavior. Specifically, with emotionally supportive teachers, children who expose internalizing or externalizing behavior are no longer at risk for developing less close or more conflictual relationships with their teachers respectively. Practical implications and limitations of the studies are reported and suggestions are made for future research.

Reciprocal Relations Between Teacher–Child Conflict and Aggressive Behavior in Kindergarten: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

In recent developmental theorizing, it has been hypothesized that teacher–child conflict and childrens externalizing behavior affect one another reciprocally over time. However, the relation between teacher–child conflict and externalizing behavior has been mainly studied from a unidirectional point of view. Therefore, this study aimed to test the hypothesis of bidirectionality by means of a cross-lagged longitudinal design with kindergarten teacher reports on core variables at 3 measurement occasions in 1 year. Structural equation modeling with data of 148 kindergartners provided evidence for the hypothesis of bidirectionality. Specifically, results supported a transactional sequence in which childrens aggressive behavior at the beginning of kindergarten led to increases in teacher–child conflict midyear, which in turn led to an increase of aggressive behavior at the end of the kindergarten school year.

Teacher and observer views on student-teacher relationships: convergence across kindergarten and relations with student engagement

Most studies regarding the role of teacher-child relationships for childrens early school adjustment use only teacher ratings of relationship quality. The current study examines (a) the agreement between teacher and observer ratings, (b) whether similar patterns of relations with behavioral engagement are obtained across informants, and (c) which informant matters the most in the prediction of engagement. Teacher and observer ratings of teacher-child closeness, conflict, and dependency were gathered for a sample of 148 kindergartners and their teachers at three measurement occasions. Teacher and observer reports converged to a moderate degree but only when considering multiple occasions and ruling out occasion-specific variance. Although some relations with behavioral engagement were similar, only teacher ratings had unique, added value in this prediction.

Relationships with mother, teacher, and peers: unique and joint effects on young children's self-concept

This study tested the unique and joint effects of three significant relationships in young childrens social lives, namely their relationships with mother, teacher, and peers, on three dimensions of self-concept (general, academic, and social). A sample of 113 children participated. Mother–child attachment quality was observed in preschool. In first grade, teacher ratings of teacher–child relationship quality, peer ratings of peer acceptance, and child reports of self-concept were administered. The results revealed domain-specific links between social relationships and self-concept dimensions. Specifically, academic self-concept related to teacher–child relationship quality, social self-concept to peer acceptance, and general self-concept to the quality of attachment to mother. Moreover, an indirect effect was revealed of earlier mother–child attachment quality on the academic dimension of self through its effect on current adult–child relationships in school. This way, the study uncovered the pathways through which significant social relationships shape the formation of young childrens self-concept.

Identity and Perceived Peer Relationship Quality in Emerging Adulthood: The Mediating Role of Attachment-Related Emotions.

Identity formation and the perceived quality of ones peer relationships are theorized to be intimately linked in emerging adulthood. The present study examined the associations between identity styles (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles) and the quality of relationships with peers (as indexed by friendship quality and loneliness) in a sample of 343 college students from Belgium. High scores for the information-oriented style were positively related to friendship quality, whereas high scores for the diffuse-avoidant identity style were positively related to loneliness. These direct associations were mediated, at least in part, by attachment-related emotions (i.e., avoidance and anxiety). These associations, both direct and indirect, provide the first evidence linking identity styles and the quality of peer relationships. Suggestions for future research are provided, both at the methodological and the conceptual level.

Developmental trajectories of children’s behavioral engagement in late elementary school: Both teachers and peers matter.

The present longitudinal study examined how relationships with teachers and peers jointly shape the development of childrens behavioral engagement in late elementary school. A sample of 586 children (46% boys; Mage = 9.26 years at Wave 1) was followed throughout Grades 4, 5, and 6. A multidimensional approach was adopted, distinguishing support and conflict as teacher-child relationship dimensions, and acceptance and popularity as peer relationship dimensions. Additive, moderation, and mediation models were tested. Latent growth curve modeling showed evidence for an additive model in which high initial and increasing levels of teacher support, and high initial levels of peer acceptance, independently reduce the normative declines in childrens behavioral engagement. This implies that targeting only 1 relationship in intervention cannot compensate for negative aspects of the other relationship. Teacher conflict only predicted initial levels of behavioral engagement, whereas peer popularity did not predict behavioral engagement (not even in a subsample of children with relatively high levels of relational or physical aggression). However, cross-lagged panel mediation analyses revealed that children who were perceived as more popular in Grade 5 were less engaged in school in Grade 6. Practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Children's Aggressive Behaviour and Teacher-Child Conflict in Kindergarten: Is Teacher Perceived Control over Child Behaviour a Mediating Variable?

BACKGROUND Research repeatedly showed young childrens aggressive behaviour to predict relationship difficulties with the teacher. AIMS To examine a possible mediating variable in this process and in the stability of relationship difficulties across the school year, namely teacher perceived control over child behaviour. SAMPLE The sample consisted of 139 Belgian kindergartners and their teachers. METHOD Data were collected throughout kindergarten at three measurement occasions: childrens aggressive behaviour was measured by means of a peer nomination procedure during the first trimester, teacher perceived control over child behaviour was assessed by means of a teacher questionnaire during the second trimester, and teacher-child conflict was measured by means of a teacher questionnaire during the first and third trimesters. Correlations among all study variables were calculated and different models were estimated and compared by means of structural equation modelling. RESULTS Teacher perceived control completely mediated the relationship between aggressive behaviour and teacher-child conflict (after controlling for the concurrent association between aggressive behaviour and conflict, and the stability of conflict). In addition, teacher perceived control accounted for part of the stability in conflict across the school year. CONCLUSIONS Teacher perceived control over child behaviour has been found to act as a mediating mechanism between child aggressive behaviour and teacher-child conflict at the beginning of kindergarten and teacher-child conflict at the end of the year.

Children's appraisal of their relationship with the teacher: Preliminary evidence for construct validity

Teacher–child relationships are increasingly considered as contexts for childrens development. While teacher reports are mostly used to study the developmental consequences of the three attachment-based dimensions of closeness, conflict and dependency, childrens perceptions are important too. This study evaluated the construct validity of the newly developed Child Appraisal of Relationship with Teacher Scale (CARTS). To this end, data from a special education sample of children with emotional and behavioural disorders (N = 82; Mage = 8.75) and from a general education sample (N = 145; Mage = 8.15) were used. Results supported the reliability and construct validity of the CARTS scales and showed that childrens relationship perceptions as assessed with the CARTS were uniquely associated with their feelings about their teacher as measured with the Feelings About School. In addition, child-perceived closeness and conflict converged in expected directions with teacher-perceived closeness and especially conflict in the relationship, as measured with a questionnaire and a diary.

Examining teacher–child relationship quality across two countries

The present study examined the quality of teacher–child relationships in a collectivist and individualist country, specifically, Portugal and Belgium. Two relationship dimensions were examined the following: conflict and closeness. Participants were 158 Portuguese and 197 Belgian children and their teachers. In both countries, teachers completed the Student–Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). Measurement invariance was tested through multiple-group analysis. The results supported configural and metric invariance across countries, but not full scalar equivalence, suggesting that the STRS is robust across countries. Some associations differed between the samples. Specifically, teachers’ perceptions of closeness were negatively related to conflict in Belgium, but not in Portugal. Teachers described boys and girls as having similar levels of both conflict and closeness in Portugal, while in Belgium girls are likely to have closer relationships with their teachers. Moreover, observed emotional climate was positively associated with closeness in Belgium (but not Portugal), indicating that Belgian teachers in classrooms with more warm and positive interactions were likely to have closer individual relationships with their students.

The Role of Self-Study Time in Freshmen's Achievement.

Although invested study time is expected to relate to exam performance, research findings have been mixed. Therefore, the current study examined (a) the role of self-study time above and beyond relevant student characteristics, affective-motivational processes (i.e. academic self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and action-state orientation) and the cognitive learning activities deployed while studying the course (i.e. deep, stepwise, and concrete processing), and (b) whether the effect of self-study time on course grade is moderated by these affective-motivational and cognitive learning activities and/or by student characteristics. Ninety three freshmen following a Macro-Economics course and 70 freshmen enrolling in Financial Accounting 2 participated. For Macro-Economics, self-study time predicted course grade above and beyond relevant student characteristics, the degree of class attendance, and course-specific affective-motivational and cognitive learning activities. No interaction effects were obtained. For Financial Accounting 2, students only benefited from more self-study time when they made few exercises.