Examining the roles of child temperament and teacher-child relationships as predictors of Turkish children’s social competence and antisocial behavior

Gendered pathways to socioemotional competencies in very young children

Parent-child and teacher-child relationship closeness have been shown to be crucial for children's development of socioemotional competencies from preschool to school-age stages. However, less is known about the importance of developing close relationships with young infants and toddlers attending childcare group settings for their early socioemotional development. The current study aimed to address this gap and to explore how child gender may influence the associations. Participants included 378 Hong Kong Chinese children (196 girls; Mage = 22.05 months, SD = 9.81 months) enrolled in childcare centres, along with their parents and teachers. Parents reported on children's socioemotional competencies as well as their relationship closeness with children; teachers reported on their relationship closeness with children. Multiple group structural equation modelling was used to analyse the results. The findings showed that both parent-child and teacher-child closeness were positively associated with children's social competence, while teacher-child closeness was negatively associated with children's anxiety behaviour. Parents of girls reported greater parent-child closeness, higher levels of social competence, and higher levels of anxiety behaviours compared to parents of boys. Furthermore, teacher-child closeness was significantly associated with social competence exclusively among girls, while parent-child closeness was significantly associated with anxiety behaviours solely among boys. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of child gender in influencing the associations between parent-child closeness, teacher-child closeness, and children's socioemotional competencies in the earliest years.

Teacher-child relational conflict and maladaptive social behaviors: The moderating role of children's values

Beginning in the preschool years, it is well established that teacher-child conflictual relationships are likely to have detrimental effects on children's behaviors. However, to date little attention has been paid to how certain core child factors, such as young children's personal values, might act as risk or protective factors in this context. Accordingly, we examined the associations between teacher-child relational conflict and children's maladaptive behaviors and asked whether children's personal values, defined here as their broad motivations in life, moderate these associations. Our sample consisted of 120 kindergarten children (58 girls; M_age = 67.53 months, SD = 6.53) and their teachers. Children's values were examined in a one-on-one interview using an animated values instrument. Teachers reported the level of conflict in the teacher-child relationships and children's maladaptive behaviors. The findings supported our hypothesis that teacher-child relational conflict is positively associated with children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors. In addition, children's self-transcendence values acted as a protective factor by weakening the adverse associations between teacher-child conflict and children's externalizing behaviors. Conversely, children's conservation values acted as a risk factor by strengthening the associations between teacher-child conflict and children's internalizing behaviors. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

Preschool children’s negative affect and social skills in China: The moderating effect of the teacher–child relationship

Negative affect is an important temperament in children, influencing their social skills. However, the evidence for this association in preschool children is limited. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms that explain the relationship between preschool children’s negative affect and social skills remain less understood. Thus, the primary goal of this study was to examine the moderating role of the teacher–child relationship in the associations between negative affect and social skills of Chinese preschoolers. A sample of 198 preschool children (Mage = 58.64 ± 3.83 months, 53% boys), recruited from 13 classes in two public kindergartens in Shanghai, China, participated in this 1-year longitudinal study. The mothers reported children’s negative affect, while the teachers reported children’s social skills and the teacher–child relationship. Results of a series of moderating effect analyses showed that (1) T1 negative affect could significantly negatively predict T2 social skills (cooperation, self-control, and assertion), and (2) the associations between negative affect and social skills were moderated by the teacher–child relationship (including teacher–child closeness and conflict). Specifically, a high level of teacher–child closeness buffered the prediction of negative affect on social skills, while a high level of teacher–child conflict aggravated the said prediction. The findings highlight the importance of the teacher–child relationship in the development of children’s social skills during preschool age when they have a high level of negative affect. This has important implications for the development of interventions to improve teacher–child relationships and children’s social skills.