Poster #176 - Shyness, Teacher-Child Relationships and Socio-Emotional Adjustment in Turkish Preschool

• In Event: 2-002 - Special Poster Session 05 with Continental Breakfast Reception
  In Poster Session: PS 05 - International Section

Integrative Statement

Shyness refers to social fear and anxiety in the presence of peers that inhibit the child’s desire to engage in social interaction (Coplan, Prakash, O’Neil, & Armer, 2004). Shy children are at increased risk for adjustment difficulties at school such as peer-relationship difficulties and socio-emotional adjustment and poor teacher-child relationships. Teacher-child relationships play a critical role in children’s social, emotional, and academic development in early childhood (e.g., Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). Essentially; teachers can serve as a secure base from which children can explore classes and interact with their peers for preschool children (Thijs & Koomen, 2008). A close teacher –child relationships also appear to be moderators that weaken the link between anxiety, school avoidance, social withdrawal, and shyness. On the other hand; a conflictual or a dependent teacher-child relationships can affect socio-emotional adjustment (e.g., social competence and anxious-withdrawn).

The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderating role of child–teacher relationship quality (i.e., closeness and conflict) in the association between children’s shyness and indices of socio-emotional adjustment behaviors. We hypothesized that the relation between shyness and socio-emotional adjustment behaviors (social competence and anxious-withdrawn) would be moderated by teacher - child relationships. Participants were 211 three to six-year-old children (M= 60.3 months, SD = 2.26, 94 girls, 117 boys). Mothers reported their shyness; teachers reported teacher-child relationships and children socio-emotional adjustment behaviors. All analyses were conducted using SPSS.

The interactions between shyness and teacher-child relationships have been found to be significant in predicting teacher reported anxious-withdrawn. The models revealed significant two-way interaction between the categorical independent variable teacher conflict (i.e., 0 : low and 1: high) and the standardized continuous independent variable unsociability in predicting anxious-withdrawn. For example, increasing the values of shyness results in increasing anxious-withdrawn behaviors with low and high teacher’s conflict. Anxious-withdrawn of the children with high teacher’s conflictual is more influenced by increasing values of anxious-withdrawn scores when compared to that of the children with low teacher’s conflict. In other words; shy children with high conflictual child-teacher relationships may develop more negative outcomes. However, we would not find any significant interactions in the prediction of teacher-reported social competence. The findings suggest that conflict teacher–child relationships appeared to be a moderator of shyness and children’s social-emotional adjustment, particularly anxious-withdrawn. Thus, this moderating effect should be considered to improve intervene programs for social withdrawal children. This program might be included preschool teacher for learning how shyness children interact.

Authors

• Ozge Metin Aslan, Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Irem Akçam Yalçın, Hacettepe University
  Presenting Author

• Menekse Boz, Hacettepe University
  Non-Presenting Author