The Role of School-Based Relationships for Student Well-Being: How Different Are High- and Average-Ability Students?

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Affective Characteristics and Affective Issues

Abstract

Do high- and average-ability students in late childhood differ regarding teacher-child conflict, peer acceptance, and well-being? How do these constructs impact each other over time? Longitudinal research in this regard is severely lacking.
We followed a sample of 348 high- (50.7% boys, Mage=9.81 years) and 2753 average-ability students (46.3% boys, Mage=9.69 years) throughout Grade 4, 5, and 6.
Lower conflict, higher acceptance, and better well-being was consistently found in the high-ability group. Cross-lagged analyses showed that previous peer acceptance impacted well-being in Grade 5 and 6 and teacher-student conflict in Grade 6. Well-being in Grade 4 also impacted teacher-student conflict in Grade 5. Multigroup analyses showed that the links between these variables were similar for both ability groups.

Authors

• Tessa Weyns, KU Leuven

• Hilde Colpin, KU Leuven

• Karine Verschueren, KU Leuven