title: Relationships with mother, teacher, and peers: unique and joint effects on young children's self-concept.
abstract: This study tested the unique and joint effects of three significant relationships in young children's social lives, namely their relationships with mother, teacher, and peers, on three dimensions of self-concept (general, academic, and social). A sample of 113 children participated. Mother-child attachment quality was observed in preschool. In first grade, teacher ratings of teacher-child relationship quality, peer ratings of peer acceptance, and child reports of self-concept were administered. The results revealed domain-specific links between social relationships and self-concept dimensions. Specifically, academic self-concept related to teacher-child relationship quality, social self-concept to peer acceptance, and general self-concept to the quality of attachment to mother. Moreover, an indirect effect was revealed of earlier mother-child attachment quality on the academic dimension of self through its effect on current adult-child relationships in school. This way, the study uncovered the pathways through which significant social relationships shape the formation of young children's self-concept.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit School Psychology and Child and Adolescent Development, KU Leuven, Belgium. Karine.Verschueren@ppw.kuleuven.be
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verschueren
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doumen
authors.forename: Evelien
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buyse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003210:Concept Formation; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010379:Peer Group; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D002666:Psychology, Child; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires