Poster #28 - The Role of Preschool Teacher Attributions and Teaching Practices in Predicting Children’s Challenging Behavior

• In Event: Poster Session 07

Abstract

Much of child behavior is in the “eye of the beholder”, with contextual, teacher, and child factors influencing how behavior is interpreted in early childhood settings (Dobbs & Arnold, 2009; Gilliam et al., 2016; Jeon et al., 2014; Yoder & Williford, 2019). Teacher attributions about behavior are the beliefs that teachers have about why children behave in certain ways (Carter et al., 2014; Nemer et al., 2019). Attributions about children’s behavior can be negative, including seeing challenging behavior as unlikely to change, done on purpose, and related to factors internal to the child. In contrast, attributions can be more positive, including seeing challenging behavior as something that is unintentional and can change with teacher support. According to attribution theory, we make sense of the world through these attributions (Weiner, 1980, 1985), and these attributions influence our emotional states and responses to other’s behaviors (Weiner, 2005). These attributions are likely related to classroom functioning, including how teachers promote positive social and emotional development and prevent and respond to challenging behavior (Carter et al., 2014; Gilliam & Reyes, 2018). Despite this, very limited research has explored preschool teacher attributions and how these attributions relate to teaching practices and children’s challenging behavior. To address this gap, we will explore the direct relationship between attributions and children’s behavior, the direct relationship between attributions and teaching practices, and how attributions may relate to children’s behavior indirectly through teaching practices.

We explore these relationships using data from 183 preschool teachers and 470 selected children collected as part of a relationship-based dyadic intervention (i.e., Banking Time). At the beginning of the preschool year, teachers reported on their attributions using the Preschool Teacher Attributions measure (PTA; Carter et al., 2014), and their use of proactive and inappropriate teaching strategies, using items from the Teacher Strategies Questionnaire (TSQ; Webster-Stratton et al., 2003). Children’s behavior was measured at the beginning and end of the year, using the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory-Revised (SESBI-R; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999). Total problem behavior score aggregated at the teacher-level, given the high amount of variability at the teacher-level (ICCpre = .62; ICCpost = .50).

All data have been collected, processed, and are ready for analyses. Initial analyses have been conducted, and full analyses will be complete by the conference. Structural equation models (Figure 1) will be used to examine the relationship between teacher attributions and child outcomes (RQ 1) and teacher attributions and teaching practices (RQ 2). To address research question three, mediation analyses will examine the direct relationship between teacher attributions and child behavior and the extent to which this relationship operates indirectly through teaching practices (RQ 3). All analyses will control for a rich set of teacher and child covariates (e.g., child age, teacher and child race, teaching experience). Findings will shed light on whether and how attributions are related to classroom practices and children’s behavior to help guide future intervention efforts, including coaching and mental health consultation, to support early childhood educators and young children’s positive social and emotional development.

Authors

• Kelsey Ann Clayback, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Amanda P Williford, University of Virginia - Charlottesville