Should I Tell the Teacher? Teacher Student Relationship Quality and Disclosure Intentions about Peer Victimization

• In Event: Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Topic - Social Relationships

Abstract

Background. Peer victimization in children is linked to long-term negative outcomes (Hager & Leadbeater 2016), but children who are bullied or victimized by peers are often reluctant to disclose this information to adults such as teachers. Reluctance to disclose has been attributed to negative feelings (e.g., shame, hopelessness, fear) and to low expectations regarding the benefits of adult intervention (Mishna & Alaggia, 2005). Previous research also suggests a positive relationship with a teacher can protect children from future victimization (Longobardi et al., 2018). Unknown is whether quality of the student-teacher relationship is also linked to likelihood of disclosing about peer victimization. In this study, we examined whether having a strong, positive relationship with one’s teacher moderates the relation between peer victimization and the intent to disclose about victimization to that teacher.
Method.Participants were 375 elementary students in grades 3 (46.8%), 4 (19.5%) and 5 (33.7%). Mean age of children was 9.3 years (SD = 1.07), and 52.3% identified as girls and 51.8% as Hispanic. Peer victimization (PV) was assessed via the School Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), a 9-item self-report measure (Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2004). Teacher Student Relationship Quality (TSRQ) was assessed via six self-report items from the Network of Relationships Inventory (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985). Intentions to disclose to teachers about victimization was assessed via a 3-item self-report scale adapted from the SEQ (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Pelletier, 2008).
Results. Bivariate correlations indicated disclosure intentions were significantly related to TSRQ (r = 0.11, p < .05) but not to PV (r = - 0.04). TSRQ was significantly, inversely related to PV (r = - 0.24, p < .01). An OLS multiple regression was used to examine whether PV, TSRQ, and the interaction between PV and TSRQ predicted children’s disclosure intentions (see Table 1). The full model explained 3% of the variance in disclosure intentions. PV was not a significant predictor of disclosure intentions but TSRQ was (B = 0.14, p = 0.01,). The interaction term (PV X TSRQ) significantly predicted disclosure intentions (B = -0.10, p = 0.02). Simple slopes analyses revealed that PV was a significant predictor of disclosure intentions for children with high TSRQ (+1 SD > M, p = .06, B = -0.14), but not for children with average (M) or low (-1SD < M) TSRQ. For children with high TSRQ, as PV increased, their disclosure intentions decreased.
Discussion.The inverse relation between PV and disclosure intentions for children with high TSRQ was unexpected. Perhaps children who are victimized by peers but have supportive relationships with their teacher are less likely to disclose because disclosure is associated with uncomfortable feelings (e.g., shame). Another possibility is that children who are victimized but have supportive relationships with teachers see less need to disclose because they assume or recognize that teachers are already aware of their being bullied.

Authors

• Meredith Scafe, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Jake Steggerda, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emma B Aspenson, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jasmine M Blake, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kirsten V Flippo, The University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Megan R Kozak, The University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hali T McMillan, The University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cady F Milam, The University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tim A. Cavell, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author