29
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Student-teacher relationship trajectories and mental health problems in young children

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          This longitudinal study classified groups of children experiencing different trajectories of student-teacher relationship quality over the transition from preschool into school, and determined the strength of the association between different student-teacher relationship trajectories and childhood mental health problems in the second year of primary school.

          Methods

          A community sample of 460 Australian children were assessed in preschool (age 4), the first school year (age 5), and second school year (age 6). Teachers at all three assessments reported on student-teacher relationship quality with the Student Teacher Relationship Scale. When the children were at preschool and in their second school year, parents and teachers rated children’s mental health problems using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.

          Results

          Latent-class growth modelling identified two trajectories of student-teacher relationship quality: (1) a stable-high student-teacher relationship quality and (2) a moderate/declining student-teacher relationship quality trajectory. Generalised linear models found that after adjusting for family demographic characteristics, having a stable high quality student-teacher relationship trajectory was associated with fewer parent-rated and teacher-rated total mental health problems, and fewer conduct, hyperactivity, and peer problems, and greater prosocial behaviour at age 6. A stable high quality trajectory was also associated with fewer teacher-rated, but not parent-rated emotional symptoms. These effects remained after adjustment for levels of mental health problems at age 4.

          Conclusions

          Findings suggest that early intervention and prevention strategies that focus on building stable high quality student-teacher relationships during preschool and children’s transition into formal schooling, may help reduce rates of childhood mental health problems during the early school years.

          Electronic supplementary material

          The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40359-014-0027-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

          Related collections

          Most cited references76

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Psychometric Properties of the Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-Year-Olds: A Review

          Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds. Results from 48 studies (N = 131,223) on reliability and validity of the parent and teacher SDQ are summarized quantitatively and descriptively. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement are satisfactory for the parent and teacher versions. At subscale level, the reliability of the teacher version seemed stronger compared to that of the parent version. Concerning validity, 15 out of 18 studies confirmed the five-factor structure. Correlations with other measures of psychopathology as well as the screening ability of the SDQ are sufficient. This review shows that the psychometric properties of the SDQ are strong, particularly for the teacher version. For practice, this implies that the use of the SDQ as a screening instrument should be continued. Longitudinal research studies should investigate predictive validity. For both practice and research, we emphasize the use of a multi-informant approach.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            10-year research update review: the epidemiology of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders: I. Methods and public health burden.

            To review recent progress in child and adolescent psychiatric epidemiology in the area of prevalence and burden. The literature published in the past decade was reviewed under two headings: methods and findings. Methods for assessing the prevalence and community burden of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders have improved dramatically in the past decade. There are now available a broad range of interviews that generate DSM and ICD diagnoses with good reliability and validity. Clinicians and researchers can choose among interview styles (respondent based, interviewer based, best estimate) and methods of data collection (paper and pencil, computer assisted, interviewer or self-completion) that best meet their needs. Work is also in progress to develop brief screens to identify children in need of more detailed assessment, for use by teachers, pediatricians, and other professionals. The median prevalence estimate of functionally impairing child and adolescent psychiatric disorders is 12%, although the range of estimates is wide. Disorders that often appear first in childhood or adolescence are among those ranked highest in the World Health Organization's estimates of the global burden of disease. There is mounting evidence that many, if not most, lifetime psychiatric disorders will first appear in childhood or adolescence. Methods are now available to monitor youths and to make early intervention feasible.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              The teacher-child relationship and children's early school adjustment

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                lauren.millerlewis@adelaide.edu.au
                alyssa.sawyer@adelaide.edu.au
                amelia.searle@adelaide.edu.au
                murthy.mittinty@adelaide.edu.au
                michael.sawyer@adelaide.edu.au
                john.lynch@adelaide.edu.au
                Journal
                BMC Psychol
                BMC Psychol
                BMC Psychology
                BioMed Central (London )
                2050-7283
                12 September 2014
                12 September 2014
                2014
                : 2
                : 1
                : 27
                Affiliations
                [ ]Discipline of Paediatrics, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005 Australia
                [ ]Research and Evaluation Unit, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Women’s and Children’s Health Network, 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, South Australia 5006 Australia
                [ ]Discipline of Public Health, School of Population Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005 Australia
                [ ]Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies, School of Population Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005 Australia
                [ ]School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
                Article
                27
                10.1186/s40359-014-0027-2
                4317136
                25685350
                c4ab0eb8-aff7-4823-9676-97409b59f6f9
                © Miller-Lewis et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

                History
                : 13 December 2013
                : 6 August 2014
                Categories
                Research Article
                Custom metadata
                © The Author(s) 2014

                early childhood,mental health problems,student-teacher relationship trajectories

                Comments

                Comment on this article