The relationship between teachers’ day-to-day classroom management practices and anxiety in primary school children: a systematic review.

Abstract

Anxiety problems are common in children and can have profound adverse effects on personal, social, and academic life. Almost 40% of anxiety disorders emerge before age 14, making primary schools invaluable settings for prevention and early support of child anxiety. Research indicates that school-based interventions can be costly and difficult to schedule, school staff lack confidence to deliver them effectively, and outcomes are mixed. One solution may be for school staff to adapt and enhance their day-to-day practices to better support children with anxiety. Objective: This systematic review aims to summarise what is known about the relationship between teachers’ classroom management and anxiety in primary school-aged children. Method: We searched ASSIA, British Education Index, Education Abstracts, Embase, ERIC, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Scopus in December 2020 and June 2022, using a pre-defined strategy. We included studies of any design, published in peer-reviewed journals at any time, in any language, reporting associations between day-to-day classroom management strategies/methods and anxiety/internalising outcomes in children aged 4-11 years, taught in mainstream primary schools. Studies were assessed for quality/risk of bias. Results: We identified 8 studies (6 quantitative; 2 qualitative) including 4,505 children. We found some evidence that authoritarian, controlling, and punitive classrooms may be linked to higher levels of anxiety, although, overall, existing evidence indicates either a weak or no association between classroom management and anxiety.Conclusions: This review highlights a paucity of research in this area. Furthermore, variability in design, measures, and quality makes drawing firm conclusions difficult. Recommendations for future research are discussed.