Zhu J, Yin X, Li X, Dong X, Zou S, Li Y. Social avoidance and social adjustment in Chinese preschool migrant children: the moderating role of teacher-child relationships.
Front Psychiatry 2023;
14:1149319. [PMID:
37333915 PMCID:
PMC10272620 DOI:
10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1149319]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives
This study aimed to explore the moderating role of teacher-child relationships in the relations between social avoidance and social adjustment (i.e., prosocial behavior, peer exclusion, and anxious-fearful behavior) in Chinese migrant preschoolers.
Methods
Participants were 148 migrant children aged 4-6 years (82 boys, Mage = 62.32, SD = 6.67) attending kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers reported children's social avoidance, and teachers rated teacher-child relationships and children's social adjustment.
Results
Results indicated that social avoidance was positively related to peer exclusion and negatively related to prosocial behavior. Teacher-child relationships moderated those associations. Specifically, teacher-child closeness buffered the relationship between social avoidance and peer exclusion, whereas teacher-child conflict exacerbated the relations between social avoidance and peer exclusion and anxious-fearful behavior.
Conclusion
The current finding informs us of the importance of improving teacher-child closeness and reducing teacher-child conflict to buffer the negative adjustment among socially avoidant young children who migrated from rural-to-urban China. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of social avoidance for migrant preschoolers in Chinese culture.
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