The relations between teacher-child closeness and conflict in preschool and children’s outcomes in kindergarten

Abstract

This is a preprint of a study that examined the relations between closeness and conflict in the teacher-child relationship in preschool and children’s behavior problems, social skills, and executive function (EF) in kindergarten, and examined if these relations are moderated by parental education. The study also explored associations between teacher-child closeness and conflict and the subscales of children’s behavior problems and social skills. The sample consisted of 126 preschool children (M = 56.70 months, SD = 3.89). Regression analyses revealed that teacher-child conflict was related to poorer social skills in children, specifically lower assertion, lower engagement, and lower cooperation. Additionally, as conflict in the teacher-child relationship increased, EF decreased for children whose parents have a lower level of education. There was also a marginally significant moderator of the relation between teacher-child closeness and behavior problems where high parent education served as a protective factor for low levels of teacher-child closeness. Implications for future research are discussed.

The role of child gender and age in teacher-child relationship, self-regulation, social emotions and academic achievement in preschool: A multi-group structural equation modeling approach

“…Teachers, preoccupied with regulating children's behavior, inadvertently limit opportunities for SR (Paro et al, 2004). Moreover, these relationships can exacerbate children's aggressive behaviors (Paes et al, 2023), undermining overall achievement through the displacement of SR and SE development opportunities (Sandilos et al, 2019).…”