Perceived Family Support and Preschoolers' Behavior: Multilevel Modeling With Parent and Teacher Educational Attainment Moderators

• In Event: Effects of Family Support and Interactions on Young Children

Abstract

Understanding how children develop social, emotional, and behavioral functioning is critical to supporting them in school and life. Family–teacher collaboration contributes but is not well understood in early childhood. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine associations between teacher-perceived family support—an aspect of the family–teacher relationship—and children’s behavioral outcomes, using a sample of 329 socio-demographically diverse, urban preschoolers and 54 teachers. Support is positively associated with social competence and behavioral self-regulation. Parent and teacher educational attainment moderate the association with social competence, with a positive association when teachers have a BA or greater and a negative association when they do not, and a negative association when parents do not have a BA or greater.

Author

• Natalie Schock, University of Denver