Poster #33 - Sustained Relationships across the Early Elementary Years: Association with Children’s Social-Behavioral Skills

• In Event: Poster Session 02

Abstract

Social-behavioral competence is predictive of student success including the development of prosocial relationships, higher levels of academic achievement, and a decreased likelihood of behavior concerns (Corcoran et al., 2018). Students from marginalized backgrounds may experience systematic and structural barriers that adversely impact their social development and often widens during elementary school and beyond (Gillanders et al., 2014).

There is a growing body of literature exploring how positive student-teacher relationships (Nurmi, 2012) and parent-teacher relationships (Serpell & Mashburn, 2012) impact developmental outcomes across elementary school, including higher levels of academic achievement (Ansari et al., 2020). These relationships represent malleable factors that may be beneficial in supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Cave et al., 2020). Research conducted with pre-Kindergarten children revealed that positive student-teacher relationships predict social-behavioral outcomes within the same academic year (Author, 2021), and decreases in student-teacher closeness from pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten was associated with lower ratings of social-emotional skills and self-regulation and higher conduct problems in Kindergarten (Vitiello et al., 2022). Similarly, sustained positive parent-teacher relationships across the pre-Kindergarten to first grade transition has been found to predict overall positive social-behavioral outcomes as children transition into the early elementary years (Author, 2021). However, no studies have investigated associations between sustained student-teacher and parent-teacher relationships and important social-behavioral outcomes beyond first grade, or explored longitudinal associations between relationships and children’s social-behavioral skills across the primary grades.

The present study examines associations between student-teacher and parent-teacher relationships, and social skills and problem behaviors, within and across Grades 1 through 4. Our research questions are:

1. Are parent-teacher and student–teacher relationships concurrently associated with children’s social skills and problem behaviors in Grades 1 through 4?
2. Are sustained relationships across Grades 1 to 4 associated with children’s social skills and problem behaviors over time?

The sample included 318 students in Grades 1-4 and their parents and teachers. Parents and teachers prospectively reported on their relationship with each other and the students’ social skills and problem behaviors in the spring of each school year. Teachers additionally reported on their relationship with the student. Measures included the Parent-Teacher Relationship Scale (PTRS), Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS), and Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS). A random intercept autoregressive panel model with cluster (school-level) robust standard errors was estimated in Mplus to address the study questions (see Figure 1).

Findings indicated significant associations between parent- and teacher-reported relationships with one another and children’s social skills in Grades 1, 3 and 4. Teacher-student closeness was associated with children’s social skills in each of Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4. Conflict between teachers and students was related to both problem behaviors (negatively) and social skills (positively) in Grades 1, 2 and 4. Sustained parent-teacher relationships were negatively associated with children’s overall problem behaviors and positively associated with their social skills. Sustained student-teacher closeness was positively related to social skills over time; sustained conflict between teachers and students was positively related to their problem behaviors and negatively related to social skills. Implications for research, practice and policy will be discussed.

Authors

• Susan M. Sheridan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Presenting Author

• Lisa L Knoche, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Natalie A. Koziol, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Amanda Witte, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Iheoma U. Iruka, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Cassidy Ann Spradlin, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• Jenna Stadheim, University of Nebraska-Lincoln