Conference Agenda

Despite teacher-child relationships being consequential for young children, limited attention has been given to how specific teacher behaviors shape children’s early relational experiences in preschool (Spilt & Koomen, 2022). According to developmental systems theory (e.g., Sameroff, 2010) there are at least two co-existing models linking teacher emotion socialization behaviors and teacher-child interactions and relationships: (1) regulation model: teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors may directly influence children’s interactions with teachers and (2) representational model: teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors may indirectly influence children’s interactions through children’s mental representation of the teacher-child relationship. This representational pathway aligns with attachment theory's emphasis on internal working models. Whereas empirical evidence for the regulation model exists (e.g., Curby et al., 2022), no studies have examined whether teacher emotion socialization behaviors are associated with children’s mental representations of the teacher-child relationship, a core premise of the representational model. This paper provides a first empirical examination of the links between teacher emotion socialization behaviors and children’s representations of the teacher-child relationship, drawing on data from preschool teachers and children whose behavior teachers perceived as challenging.

Participants were 470 U.S.-based, racially diverse preschoolers identified by teachers as exhibiting elevated externalizing behaviors. Teachers’ emotion socialization behaviors were observed during a standardized dyadic teacher–child interaction task. Associations were examined between these behaviors and (a) regulation model: individual children’s observed positive interactions with teachers and (b) representational model: children’s representations of the teacher–child relationship, assessed using a standardized interview and a drawing task.

Path analyses indicated associations between teachers’ emotion responding and children’s interactions with teachers (β = 0.16). Teachers’ emotion responding and emotion instructing were also associated with children’s representations of the teacher–child relationship (β range = 0.17–0.20). By simultaneously testing both models, these findings provide empirical support for attachment-based accounts of emotion socialization in preschool classrooms.

Since the early 1990s, the attachment theory has been applied to teacher-student relationships in elementary school. According to the extended attachment perspective, positive relationships with teachers provide students with a sense of security, which will stimulate their optimal school adjustment. In contrast, negative teacher-student relationships lead to low self-esteem and emotional insecurity, which hampers students’ school functioning (Pianta, 1999; Spilt & Koomen, 2022).

In attachment-based research, ample evidence has been found that students’ behaviors impact the affective quality of teacher-student relationships (Nurmi, 2012). Far less is known, however, about the role that teachers’ behaviors play in the formation of teacher-student relationships. In the present study, we therefore examined how teachers’ need supportive behaviors (autonomy support, structure) were associated with student-reported and teacher-reported relationship quality. As such, we combined two different theoretical perspectives, the extended attachment theory and the self-determination theory. We hypothesized that teachers who displayed more autonomy support and/or more structure would share more advantageous (higher closeness, lower conflict, and lower dependency) with their students (Howard et al., 2024).

Our sample included 352 third-to-sixth graders (52.8% girls; M_age = 10.03 years) and their 15 teachers (93.3% female). Students reported about teachers’ need supportive behaviors (autonomy support, structure) and their relationship with their teacher (closeness, conflict) and teachers rated their relationships with individual students (closeness, conflict, dependency).

Preliminary results showed that teachers’ autonomy support was positively associated with both student-reported and teacher-reported closeness, whereas it was negatively related to student-reported and teacher-reported conflict. Structure was positively associated with student-reported closeness only, whereas teachers’ need supportive behaviors were not significantly linked to teacher-reported dependency at all.

To conclude, teachers may improve their relationships with their students by providing more autonomy support (cf., Howard et al., 2024), whereas structure seems less relevant for the formation of teacher-student relationships in upper elementary school.

Students experiencing high levels of harsh and exclusionary discipline within and outside of the classroom lose valuable instructional time and are at risk for academic problems, grade retention, and school dropout (Skiba et al., 2014). Minority students may be impacted to a greater degree, because they are more likely to experience harsh discipline and because their recognition of the discriminatory nature of some actions may lead them to lose trust in their teachers and lose motivation to learn–propelling them toward negative outcome trajectories (Monahan et al., 2014). These negative trajectories are preventable if we address them before maladaptive behavior and interactions patterns become stable (Cook et al., 2018). The quality of the teacher-student relationships is theorized as a key factor to prevent negative classroom experiences and poor student outcomes. Warm teacher-student relationships provide students with the emotional security necessary to engage in learning activities and develop the full range of skills needed to be successful in school (Pianta, 1999). One way to strengthen the teacher-student relationship is through dyadic intervention (Alamos & Williford, 2023). Banking Time (BT) is one such intervention designed to build a more sensitive and supportive relationship between a particular teacher and student. We will present initial impact results of a randomized controlled trial of Banking Time within kindergarten through third grade classroom in the United States with 173 students and 73 teachers participating. Classrooms were randomly assigned to a BT or Business-as-Usual condition. Data collection is still occurring, but initial results will be available by the time of the conference. We will report on whether students assigned to the BT condition experience more positive relationships with teachers and fewer exclusionary discipline practices across the year compared to students assigned to the control condition and whether this effect stronger for Black students, compared to White students.

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