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Poster #79 - Student-teacher relationship quality as a moderator of the association between peer rejection and peer victimization

Thu, March 21, 4:00 to 5:15pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Teachers are integral to cultivating positive relationships among students in the classroom (Cortes and Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2014) and are well positioned to influence the social processes that contribute to the onset or maintenance of peer victimization (Newman-Carlson & Horne, 2004; Olweus, 1993). Teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) has been linked to positive academic, behavioral, and social outcomes for students, but the impact of TSRQ on children’s peer victimization experiences is less clear and understudied. There is some evidence that teacher-student dependency may place children at risk for peer victimization (Troop-Gordon & Kopp, 2011), whereas others have found that TSRQ can buffer children from the impact of a negative social status on peer victimization experiences (Elledge et al., 2015).
This study examined whether the relation between peer rejection and victimization was moderated by TSRQ, and extends previous research by including self-, peer-, and teacher-report measures of both TSRQ and peer victimization. We hypothesized that peer rejection and teacher-student negative interaction would emerge as positive predictors of peer victimization whereas teacher support would emerge as a negative predictor of peer victimization. We also predicted that a supportive student-teacher relationship would attenuate the relationship between peer rejection and peer victimization and negative student-teacher interaction would strengthen the positive association between peer rejection and victimization.
Analyses were based on a sample of 476 3rd and 4th grade children (44% boys, 66% White). Data was collected in the fall and spring of a single academic year. Peer-reported victimization, rejection, and TSRQ were assessed through a peer nomination inventory. Peer victimization and TSRQ were also assessed through child and teacher report measures.
Regression models were estimated in Mplus 8.0 using full information maximum likelihood estimation to handle missing data. Models examined whether peer rejection, TSRQ, and their interaction emerged as predictors of self-, peer-, and teacher-reported victimization. Child-rated teacher support was a positive predictor of child-reported victimization. At high levels of child-rated teacher support, peer rejection was a negative predictor of peer-reported victimization. However, peer rejection emerged as a positive predictor of peer-reported victimization at high levels of teacher-rated support and a negative predictor of peer-reported victimization at low levels of teacher-rated support. These findings suggest that in the context of peer rejection, children’s perceptions of relationship support can protect against future victimization, but teacher perceptions of support may exacerbate children’s victimization. Teacher- and child-reported negative teacher-student interaction was positively associated with teacher-reported victimization. In addition, peer rejection was negatively associated with teacher-reported victimization at low levels of child-reported negative teacher-student interaction but was positively associated with teacher-reported victimization at high levels of child-reported negative interaction. These findings suggest that high levels of teacher-student negative interaction increase risk for victimization either directly or via strengthening the relationship between peer rejection and victimization. The current investigation informs our understanding of the role of TSRQ on children’s victimization experiences and suggests that it is necessary to consider multiple report sources to appreciate the implications of TSRQ for children’s peer victimization experiences.

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