Reciprocal relations between teacher-child conflict and aggressive behavior in kindergarten: a three-wave longitudinal study.
In recent developmental theorizing, it has been hypothesized that teacher-child conflict and children's externalizing behavior affect one another reciprocally over time. However, the relation between teacher-child conflict and externalizing behavior has been mainly studied from a unidirectional point of view. Therefore, this study aimed to test the hypothesis of bidirectionality by means of a cross-lagged longitudinal design with kindergarten teacher reports on core variables at 3 measurement occasions in 1 year. Structural equation modeling with data of 148 kindergartners provided evidence for the hypothesis of bidirectionality. Specifically, results supported a transactional sequence in which children's aggressive behavior at the beginning of kindergarten led to increases in teacher-child conflict midyear, which in turn led to an increase of aggressive behavior at the end of the kindergarten school year.
Doumen
Sarah
S
Department of Psychology, Center for School Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. sarah.doumen@psy.kuleuven.be
Verschueren
Karine
K
Buyse
Evelien
E
Germeijs
Veerle
V
Luyckx
Koen
K
Soenens
Bart
B
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009341:Negativism; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013223:Statistics as Topic