STUDENT–TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS MATTER: MODERATING INFLUENCESBETWEEN TEMPERAMENT AND PRESCHOOL SOCIAL COMPETENCE

摘要

Ecological approaches to preschool assessment, which consider both within-child and environ-mental variables, are considered best practice for school psychologists. This study employs such amodel to investigate the interactive influence of child temperament and student–teacher relation-ship quality on peer play behaviors. Parents of 44 preschool children (25 girls, 19 boys) ranging inage from 40 to 68 months (mean [M] = 53.00) and primarily White (92.9%) provided ratings oftheir children's temperaments on the Behavioral Style Questionnaire. Their teachers completed theStudent–Teacher Relationship Scale and the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale. Results indicate that(a) student–teacher relationships characterized by low conflict and low dependence are associatedwith less disruptive peer play, and (b) the association between temperament and disruptive playis attenuated in low conflict student–teacher relationships. Implications for school psychologistsinclude the importance of student–teacher relationships in the context of preschool assessment andintervention planning.