母子关系、师生关系与儿童入园第一年的问题行为

通过对102名托班幼儿的母亲和教师间隔9个月的两次测查，考察了母子关系、师生关系在儿童入园第一年的问题行为发展中的作用。结果表明：控制了儿童入园三个月时的问题行为后，(1)母子关系无法直接预测入园一年时的问题行为，师生关系冲突性可以反向预测入园一年时的退缩和违纪问题；(2)儿童性别调节了母子关系冲突性对入园一年时攻击问题的预测，即母子关系冲突性对入园一年时攻击问题的正向预测作用仅对女孩成立，对男孩则不成立；(3)师生关系亲密性调节了母子关系亲密性对入园一年时的退缩、焦虑、攻击和违纪问题的预测，即母子关系亲密性对入园一年时各种问题行为的负向预测作用仅对师生关系亲密程度高的儿童成立，对师生关系亲密程度低的儿童则不成立；对师生关系亲密程度低的儿童来说，母子关系亲密性对入园一年时的焦虑问题甚至具有正向预测作用

Childrens Relationships with Mothers and Teachers:Linkages to Problem Behavior in Their First Preschool Years

A majority of developmental psychologists have recognized that early adult-child relationship plays an important role in children’s social development. Previous research on developmental psychopathology indicated that the mother-child relationship and teacher-child relationship both separately served as protective as well as risk factors in children’s externalizing and internalizing problems. However, less attention has been given to how the mother-child and teacher-child relationships combine to influence children’s emotional and behavioral adjustment. The aim of the present study was to investigate the separate as well as joint contributions of mother-child relationship and teacher-child relationship to children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Furthermore, since the present study focuses on preschool beginners, it also represents a specific program to identify the possible risk and protective factors that affect children’s social adjustment during the transition from home to preschool. Based on a sample of 102 preschoolers aged 2 to 3 years and their mothers and teachers, the present study examined mother-child and teacher-child relationships in relation to these children’s internalizing and externalizing problems in their first preschool years. Hierarchical regression analysis was applied to detect the separate effects of mother-child and teacher-child relationships on children’s behavior problems as well as the moderation effect of teacher-child relationship on the relation of mother-child relationship to behavior problems. The results indicated that after controlling the effects of children’s Time 1 behavior problems, the mother-child relationship was not a significant predictor of their Time 2 behavior problems, while teacher-child conflict could negatively predict children’s Time 2 withdrawal and delinquency problems. The teacher-child relationship and child gender served to moderate the association between mother-child relationship and children’s externalizing and internalizing problems, in that a positive association between mother-child conflict and children’s aggression was found only in girls (simple slope = 0.83, t = 2.00, p < 0.05) but not in boys. A high-quality teacher-child relationship predicted negative associations between mother-child closeness and children’s withdrawal (simple slope = –0.48, t = –2.01, p < 0.05), anxiety (simple slope = –0.96, t = –2.68, p < 0.01), aggression (simple slope = –1.03, t = –2.35, p < 0.05), and delinquency (simple slope = –0.46, t = –2.37, p < 0.05) problems, while a low-quality teacher-child relationship predicted no significant associations between mother-child closeness and children’s withdrawal, aggression, and delinquency problems and a positive association between mother-child closeness and children’s anxiety problem (simple slope = 1.06, t = 3.12, p < 0.01). These findings highlight the importance of examining the continuity of adult-child relationship at home and at preschool in order to best understand children’s emotional and behavioral adjustment and of expanding the existing research on parent-child relationship by underlying the importance of teacher’s influence in the socialization process