Teacher– and parent–child relationships and children’s adjustment behaviors in grade 1 : The role of temperament.

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the reciprocal longitudinal associations between teacher– and parent–child relationships and children’s adjustment behaviors during Grade 1, and the role of the child’s temperament in this interplay. The longitudinal study followed Lithuanian children (229 in kindergarten [T0], 337 at the beginning of Grade 1 [T1], 341 at the end of Grade 1 [T2]), their parents, and their Grade 1 teachers (n = 24). The parents and teachers reported on the quality of their relationship with the children during Grade 1. In addition, parents reported on the children’s temperament in kindergarten, and the teachers reported on the children’s adjustment behaviors during Grade 1. The results showed evocative effects of children’s adjustment behaviors at the beginning of Grade 1 on the relationship quality at the end of Grade 1. In particular, prosocial behavior positively predicted teacher–child closeness, and high externalizing problems positively predicted teacher–child and parent–child conflict. In addition, we identified two indirect paths from children’s temperamental surgency to closeness with teachers via prosocial behavior and to conflicts with teachers via externalizing problems. The results of the present study suggest that children’s characteristics, such as temperament and adjustment behaviors, predict particularly teachers’ and, to some extent, parents’ perceptions of their relationship quality with the child at the beginning of children’s school career.