Children’s Trust Beliefs in Teachers, Prosocial Behaviour and Aggressive Behaviour

• In Event: 3-023 - Enhancing the Power of Relationships: The Importance of Trust and Connectedness in Education

Integrative Statement

Introduction. Some studies show that the teacher-child relationship is associated with children’s competence in peer relationships (e.g., Murray & Greenberg, 2000; Pianta & Steinberg, 1992). However, there are various constraints on interpreting the findings, (e.g., broad construct, ratings of peer relationships, cross-sectional design, and non-natural setting). The current study avoided those limitations and investigated the hypothesis that children’s trust beliefs in teachers (a specific relationship construct) is predictive of children’s socially competent behaviour (high prosocial behaviour and low aggression) in the natural playground setting (i.e., recess). The study examined the hypothesis that girls would be distinctly inclined to demonstrate those patterns, notably for the relations with aggression.

Study Population. The participants were 149 children (86 males, 66 females) from 8 to 11½ years of age (mean age = 9 years - 3 months, SD = 7 months) enrolled in years 4 -7 in the UK primary schools. The eight schools were representative of those in the UK. Of the 149 participants, 7 males did not complete the teacher trust scale.

Method. The 6-item Trust Beliefs in Teacher CGTB subscale (Rotenberg et al., 2005) was administered at the beginning of the school year. The CGTB subscale assessed the children’s expectations that teachers show reliability (keeps promises), emotional (avoids criticism/embarrassment), and honesty (tells the truth). Each child was observed in 39 recesses over the school year. There were two categories of aggression: direct and indirect. There were three categories of prosocial behaviour: initiates positive (the child initiating positive interactions with peers), other initiates positive (peers initiated positive interactions with the child), and talks with peers.

Results. Boys demonstrated greater trust beliefs in teachers (M = 20.17, SD = .42) greater direct aggression (M = 4.89, SD = .50) and lesser indirect aggression (M =.389, SD = .44) than did girls (M = 17. 70, SD = .46; M = 2.40, SD = .55; M =3.70, SD = .46, respectively). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analyses confirmed that children’s trust beliefs in teachers predicted their prosocial behaviour across the school year (shown in Figure 1), with all paths attaining significance (ps < .05) with a nonsignificant χ2(2) =1.52, p = . 468; NFI = .97; CFI = 1.00; and RMSEA = .001 (see Hu & Bentler, 1999). As hypothesized, SEM analyses also confirmed that girls’ trust beliefs in teachers predicted their prosocial behaviour and (negatively) aggressive behaviour across the school year (shown in Figure 2). The data were a good fit of the model. All those paths attained significance (ps < .05) with a nonsignificant χ2(8) =8.96, p = .345; NFI = .95; CFI = .99; and RMSEA = .043.

Discussion. The findings complement studies that show positive relations between teacher-child relationships and children’s social competence with peers. The current study extends the research by demonstrating that children’s, notably girls’, trust beliefs in teachers predicted their social competent behaviour with peers (high prosocial behaviour and low aggression) in the natural playground setting.

Authors

• Ken J. Rotenberg, Keele University
  Presenting Author

• Michael Wigelsworth, University of Manchester
  Non-Presenting Author

• Pamela Qualter, University of Manchester
  Non-Presenting Author