Pathways to low-income children’s self-regulation: Child temperament and the qualities of teacher–child relationships
Type :
Article
Publication Status :
Published
Access :
restrictedAccess
Abstract
Research Findings: We examined low-income children's temperament (regulatory and reactive) as a predictor of their self-regulation, and teacher-child relationship (closeness and conflict) as a moderator of associations between child temperament and selfregulation. This study involved 291 children (132 girls) (Mage = 53.88 months, SD = 6.44 months) from three EduCare programs. Parents reported on children's temperament and teachers reported on qualities of teacher-child relationships during fall. Direct assessments of self-regulation were conducted during the following spring and summer. Hierarchical regression models using SAS PROCMIXED were employed to account for nesting of children within classrooms. Bivariate analyses revealed that teacher-child closeness was positively associated with children's self-regulation, and teacher-child conflict was inversely associated with children's self-regulation. After controlling for demographic variables, regression analyses showed that higher levels of conflict combined with lower temperamental regulation was related to lower self-regulation. Lower levels of child temperamental regulation was related to higher self-regulation when teacher-child conflict was low. Practice and Policy: Findings suggest that reducing conflictual teacher-child conflict could be beneficial for children's selfregulation, particularly for children with low regulatory temperament. A focus on enhancing teacher self-regulation, for example, through mindfulness practices, is a promising approach to reducing teacher-child conflict.
Source :
Early Education and Development
Date :
2020-11
Volume :
32
Issue :
8
Publisher :
Taylor & Francis
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10679/7325https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10409289.2020.1830465
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