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Early Childhood Research Quarterly 34 (2016) 1326
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Early Childhood Research Quarterly
Do childrens adjustment problems contribute to teacherchild

relationship quality? Support for a child-driven model
Teresa M. Mejia , Wendy L.G. Hoglund
Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Canada
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 5 September 2014
Received in revised form 23 July 2015
Accepted 5 August 2015
Available online 18 August 2015
Keywords:
Internalizing problems
Externalizing problems
Teacherchild relationship quality
a b s t r a c t
This study examined three models testing directional associations between childrens adjustment
problems (internalizing and externalizing problems) and teacherchild relationship quality (closeness,
conict, and dependency) over one school term. The relationship-driven model tested the hypothesis
that teacherchild relationship quality contributes to prospective levels of adjustment problems. The
child-driven model tested the hypothesis that childrens adjustment problems contribute to prospective relationship quality. The transactional model tested the hypothesis that adjustment problems and
relationship quality are reciprocally related over time. These models were tested with a sample of lowincome, ethnically diverse children in kindergarten to grade 3 who were assessed at three time points
over one school term (winter, early spring, and late spring). Overall, the child-driven model best explained
the directional associations between adjustment problems and conictual and dependent teacherchild
relationships. When children showed higher levels of externalizing problems, they subsequently experienced more conict in their relationships with their teachers. When children showed more internalizing
problems they experienced more prospective dependency in their relationships with their teachers.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild closeness were modestly related within time but not across
time.
2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Teachers are a key source of support for young children in the
school system (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Pianta, 1999). Many children
share a high-quality, comforting relationship with their teacher
that can enhance their experiences within the school setting. Close
relationships with teachers are characterized by warmth and open
communication where children can use their teacher as a securebase to explore the classroom environment (Birch & Ladd, 1997).
However, some children develop negative relationships with their
teachers that can undermine their experiences in school (Pianta,
1999; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). Negative teacherchild relationships can be characterized by conict where there is tension and
anger in the relationship and can also be reected by dependency where children demonstrate a clinginess and overreliance on
the teacher (Birch & Ladd, 1997). Unfortunately, children who are
This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded to W.L.G. Hoglund.
Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, P217 Biological Sciences
Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2E9.
E-mail address: tmejia@ualberta.ca (T.M. Mejia).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.003
0885-2006/ 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
vulnerable to adjustment problems, such as internalizing problems

(symptoms of depression and anxiety) and externalizing problems
(symptoms of aggressive, disruptive and hyperactive behavior)
tend to share more conictual and dependent relationships with
their teachers (Baker, Grant, & Morlock, 2008; Henricsson & Rydell,
2004; Murray & Murray, 2004; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004).
Most studies of the associations between child adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality have presumed that
teacherchild relationship quality contributes to prospective levels
of childrens adjustment problems (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Pianta,
Steinberg, & Rollins, 1995; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). However,
it could be that when children experience heightened levels of
adjustment problems it interferes with the quality of their relationship with teachers (Birch & Ladd, 1998; Howes, Phillipsen, &
Peisner-Feinberg, 2000; Murray & Murray, 2004). It may also be
that levels of childrens adjustment problems and their relationship
quality with teachers mutually inuence one another over time
(Doumen et al., 2008; Zhang & Sun, 2011). The direction of associations between childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild
relationship quality may also differ by domain of adjustment problems (internalizing or externalizing problems) or by dimension
of relationship quality (closeness, conict or dependency). However, there has been limited investigation of how young childrens
14
T.M. Mejia, W.L.G. Hoglund / Early Childhood Research Quarterly 34 (2016) 1326
Fig. 1. Hypothesized associations between adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality. The faint lines indicate the autoregressive paths and within-time
correlations from the stability models that are also included in the primary models.
internalizing and externalizing problems relate to distinct dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality (closeness, conict, and
dependency) over time, such as over the course of one school term.
The current study tests three alternative theoretical models of
the directional associations between childrens adjustment problems and their relationship quality with teachers over the course
of one school term (see Fig. 1). The relationship-driven model

draws from an attachment perspective to propose that childrens
relationship quality with their teacher contributes to their prospective levels of internalizing and externalizing problems (Pianta &
Stuhlman, 2004). Guided by socialization theory, the child-driven
model proposes that childrens vulnerability to internalizing and
externalizing problems inuences the prospective relationship that

children share with their teachers (Birch & Ladd, 1998; Henricsson
& Rydell, 2004). The transactional model is informed by developmental and dynamic systems theories and hypothesizes that levels
of childrens adjustment problems and their relationship quality
with teachers transact over time (Doumen et al., 2008; Zhang & Sun,
2011). As childrens risks for internalizing and externalizing problems and the quality of the relationship they share with teachers
may vary over short periods of time, we test these models with data
collected on three occasions over one school term from a sample of
low-income, ethnically diverse children in kindergarten to grade
3. As the proposed associations may also differ due to childrens
age or the length of time they have been in schools, we also examine whether grade (kindergarten and grade 1 vs. grades 2 and 3)
moderates the directional associations between childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality. We next
discuss both theoretical and empirical support for our hypothesized
models.
Theoretical perspectives on teacherchild relationship quality
The signicance of childrens relationships with teachers has
been conceptualized from an attachment perspective (Pianta, 1999;
Sroufe, Fox, & Pancake, 1983; Zionts, 2005) and informs our
relationship-driven model. Consistent with this perspective, children are proposed to use their teachers as a secure base in order to
function well in the school setting, similar to the way they rely
on their primary caregivers (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta, 1999;
Zionts, 2005). In this respect, teachers are believed to be a vital
support system in school who can support childrens prospective adjustment (Pianta, 1999). Early teacherchild relationships
are thought to be particularly important because they set the
stage for how children perceive not only their current teacher but
also prospective teachers as sources of support (Erickson, Sroufe,
& Egeland, 1985; OConnor, 2010). Like some parentchild relationships, not all teachers and children are able to form a close,
comforting relationship. Children who are unable to rely on their
teacher for support may be at a signicant disadvantage in the
classroom, subsequently experiencing heightened levels of adjustment problems (OConnor, Dearing, & Collins, 2011; Pianta et al.,
1995).
Socialization theory informs our child-driven model as it helps
to explain how childrens adjustment problems may also affect
whether children form a prospective close, comforting relationship with their teacher or a more conicted or overly dependent
relationship (Bell, 1968; Grusec, 2002; McHale & Crouter, 2003).
Commonly, teachers are considered agents of socialization who
inuence not only childrens academic development but also their
social-emotional development (Denham, Bassett, & Zinsser, 2012;
Grusec, 2002). According to socialization theory, children also
have the capability to inuence teachers perceptions and behaviors based on their experiences with children in school settings
(Bell, 1968; McHale & Crouter, 2003). In this sense, when children display overly sad, anxious symptoms or more aggressive,
disruptive behaviors teachers may have more difcultly developing a close, comforting relationship with these children and instead
develop more negative relationships over time (Birch & Ladd, 1998;
Henricsson & Rydell, 2004).
The current study also draws from developmental systems
(Sameroff & Mackenzie, 2003) and dynamic systems (Thelen, 2005)
theories in their focus on the potential for bi-directional associations between child adjustment and teacherchild relationship
quality across time. As such, these theories guide our transactional
model. In these transactional relations, childrens behaviors are
proposed to inuence how a teacher subsequently responds to
them and reciprocally, how teachers behaviors are proposed to also
15
affect childrens prospective behaviors (Pianta, 1999; Sutherland &

Oswald, 2005). Transactional models also set the stage for examining cascading processes. For instance, children who show more
adjustment problems may come to form a negative relationship
with their teacher that then increases childrens risks for experiencing higher levels of adjustment problems over time. Alternatively,
when children develop a negative relationship with their teacher
this may elevate childrens risks for experiencing higher levels of
adjustment problems that then further undermine childrens relationship quality with their teacher.
Dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality and domains of

adjustment problems
Teacherchild relationship quality has typically been assessed
as three distinct dimensions: closeness, conict, and dependency.
Close teacherchild relationships are characterized as a protective factor for children in school (Pianta, 1999). With this in mind,
research shows that children with closer teacherchild relationships are more likely to experience fewer adjustment problems
(externalizing problems in particular) because they are able to rely
on their teacher for support in the classroom setting (Baker, 2006;
OConnor, et al., 2011). However, ndings for how teacherchild
closeness relates to childrens internalizing problems are less
consistent. Some studies nd that less close relationships are concurrently associated with more internalizing problems (Murray &
Murray, 2004) and may predict higher levels of internalizing problems later on (Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). However, other studies
also nd no association between teacherchild closeness and internalizing problems (Jerome, Hamre, & Pianta, 2009; Zhang & Sun,
2011). It could be that some, but not all children, who display more
internalizing problems are able to form close relationships with
teachers because some teachers may be more attentive or sensitive to these children and be able to provide them the support they
need in the classroom.
Childrens conictual relationships with teachers are also
related to their adjustment problems and externalizing problems
in particular (Henricsson & Rydell, 2004; Murray & Murray, 2004).
Children who have primarily conictual relationships with teachers
tend to exhibit more aggressive behaviors compared to children
with dependent relationships (Hughes, Bullock, & Coplan, 2014).
Findings also show that there are limited risks for internalizing problems when children experience conictual teacherchild
relationships (Hughes et al., 2014). It seems that childrens aggressive, disruptive behaviors may be more related to conict in
teacherchild relationships compared to childrens feelings of sadness and anxiety. Previous research has also shown that childrens
externalizing problems contribute to later conictual relationships
(Doumen et al., 2008; Zhang & Sun, 2011). In particular, one study
found that externalizing problems contributed to later conictual relationships, but these models did not control for childrens
internalizing problems (Zhang & Sun, 2011).
Dependent teacherchild relationships may be more strongly
related to childrens internalizing problems than externalizing
problems. Children who have dependent relationships with teachers are more likely to be rated as anxious compared to children
in less dependent or conictual relationships (Hughes et al., 2014).
Some evidence indicates that internalizing problems are a stronger
predictor of dependent teacherchild relationships than externalizing problems (Murray & Murray, 2004). Children who feel sad and
anxious may develop more dependent relationships with teachers
because they have difculty functioning in the classroom without
teachers constant support and teachers may spend more time with
these children to get them more involved in classroom activities
and engaged with peers (Coplan & Prakash, 2003).
16
The inuence of relationship quality on child adjustment:

relationship-driven model
Does teacherchild relationship quality contribute to prospective levels of childrens adjustment problems? Drawing from
an attachment perspective (Pianta, 1999; Sroufe et al., 1983),
the relationship-driven model proposes that teacherchild relationship quality contributes to childrens prospective adjustment
problems. According to this perspective, through their daily interactions children come to develop an emotional attachment to their
teacher and consequently use them as a secure base to explore
the surrounding classroom and school setting (Birch & Ladd, 1997;
Pianta, 1999; Zionts, 2005). This sense of security with their teacher
is proposed to be reected in a close, comforting bond shared
between children and their teacher and may decrease childrens
risks for adjustment problems. However, children who do not form
such a comforting emotional bond and develop a negative relationship with their teacher may come to feel unsupported and insecure
in school (Birch & Ladd, 1997; OConnor & McCartney, 2006; Pianta,
1999; Verschueren & Koomen, 2012). This adverse relationship and
sense of insecurity may, in turn, leave children vulnerable to adjustment problems.
In support of the relationship-driven model, Pianta and
Stuhlman (2004) found that when teachers reported less close relationships with children in pre-kindergarten, children subsequently
showed higher levels of internalizing problems in rst grade.
Further, when teachers reported more conict with children in
kindergarten, children showed more externalizing problems in rst
grade. Findings also showed that sharing a close relationship with a
kindergarten teacher was associated with lower prospective levels
of adjustment problems (e.g., internalizing problems, disruptive
behaviors) in rst and second grade, while conictual relationships were associated with more prospective adjustment problems
(Pianta et al., 1995). Other research has also found that children in
second and third grade who developed more positive relationships
with their teachers were perceived as less aggressive the following
year (Hughes, Cavell, & Jackson, 1999). One study found that
children who experienced poor to worsening relationships with
their teachers from kindergarten to fth grade exhibited higher
levels of internalizing problems throughout elementary school
(OConnor et al., 2011). However, children with higher prior levels
of internalizing who formed a higher quality relationship with
their teacher experienced fewer internalizing problems over time.
Beyond this unidirectional inuence from teacherchild relationship quality to child adjustment problems, it is also possible that
childrens adjustment affects their prospective relationship with
teachers.
The inuence of child adjustment on relationship quality:
child-driven model
Do childrens adjustment problems contribute to prospective
levels of teacherchild relationship quality? Drawing from socialization theory, the child-driven model proposes that childrens
adjustment affects the prospective quality of their relationship with
teachers. According to a socialization perspective, like parents in
their parenting strategies, teachers may adapt the way they interact with children in response to childrens behaviors (Maccoby,
1992; McHale & Crouter, 2003). In this sense, teachers may consciously or unconsciously use childrens behavior as a regulator of
their teaching practices and tailor the way they interact with children in response to childrens behaviors (Maccoby, 1992; McHale
& Crouter, 2003). While children who are overly sad and anxious
or overly aggressive and disruptive may interact with their teachers more or less frequently than children with fewer adjustment
problems, the types of interactions they have with teachers may
not be conducive to forming closer, more supportive relationships

(Coplan & Prakash, 2003). Teachers may need to accommodate
these children more in their instructional practices because they
need more support to function well and feel less anxious in the
classroom or require more monitoring. The demands of childrens
adjustment problems on teachers may also leave teachers annoyed
or frustrated and they may struggle to form more positive, close
relationships with these children (Birch & Ladd, 1997; OConnor,
2010).
In support of the child-driven model, childrens adjustment
problems have been found to predict concurrent and prospective levels of teacherchild relationship quality and conict and
dependency in particular (Birch & Ladd, 1998; Murray & Murray,
2004). With a sample of third, fourth and fth grade children,
Murray and Murray (2004) found that childrens levels of internalizing problems contributed to their concurrent quality of
relationships with teachers, specically dependency in the relationship. Another study also found that children who were more
aggressive and disruptive in kindergarten had more dependent
and conictual and less close relationships with teachers in rst
grade (Birch & Ladd, 1998). Children who were more withdrawn
in kindergarten also had more dependent relationships with their
teacher in rst grade. Similarly, aggressive, disruptive behaviors in
preschool were found to contribute to both dependency and conict in childrens subsequent relationships with their kindergarten
teachers (Howes et al., 2000). With a small sample of rst-grade
children who showed high levels of internalizing problems (primarily girls) or externalizing problems (primarily boys), Henricsson
and Rydell (2004) found that children with internalizing problems
had more conictual and dependent relationships with teachers in
second grade compared to children with no adjustment problems.
Children with externalizing problems also had more conictual
relationships with teachers in second grade compared to children with no adjustment problems. Together, empirical evidence
in support of both the relationship-driven and child-driven models suggest that the associations between child adjustment and
teacherchild relationships may transact over time.
The mutual inuence of child adjustment and relationship quality:

transactional model
Do childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality mutually contribute to levels of each other over time?
Drawing from developmental and dynamic systems perspectives,
the transactional model proposes that levels of child adjustment
problems and teacherchild relationship quality mutually inuence prospective levels of each other (Sameroff & Mackenzie, 2003;
Thelen, 2005). In this sense, the relation between child adjustment and teacherchild relationship quality is thought to be a
dynamic process that unfolds over time. Accordingly, change in the
behaviors of the child and in the quality of the teacherchild relationship are proposed to be shaped by the interchanges between
children and teachers rather than as singular, unidirectional processes (Sameroff, 2000; Sameroff & Mackenzie, 2003). Consistent
with this idea, childrens adjustment problems may undermine the
prospective relationship quality with their teacher because teachers have a hard time bonding with more sad, anxious and also
more aggressive, disruptive children. In turn, difculties in this
relationship may further elevate childrens adjustment problems.
Alternatively, when children share higher quality and less negative
relationships with teachers it may lessen their risks for adjustment
problems because children can rely on teachers as a source of support. This in turn may lead to more positivity and less negativity in
the teacherchild relationship as fewer emotional and behavioral
demands are placed on the relationship.
Few studies have investigated the bi-directionality between

childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship
quality. One study examined the reciprocal associations between
teacherchild conict and childrens aggressive behaviors with
a sample of children assessed three times during kindergarten
(Doumen et al., 2008). This study found signicant bi-directional
associations between relationship conict and aggressive behaviors over the school year. When children were more aggressive
at the beginning of kindergarten they had more conictual relationships with teachers by the winter of the school year, which
then contributed to more aggressive behaviors by the end of the
school year. However, internalizing problems and relationship
closeness and dependency were not assessed leaving it unclear
whether these dimensions also transact over time with aggressive
behaviors or with internalizing problems. Zhang and Sun (2011)
further tested the three directional models proposed in the current study (relationship-driven, child-driven, and transactional)
with a sample of children aged two to three years who were
assessed at the start and end of nursery school. Childrens internalizing and externalizing problems and teacherchild closeness
and conict were assessed. The transactional model best explained
the associations between childrens externalizing problems and
conictual relationships. Alternatively, the child-driven model
best explained the associations between childrens internalizing
problems and conictual relationships. Beyond the within-time
correlations, adjustment problems were unrelated to prospective
levels of teacherchild closeness. Relationship dependency was not
assessed leaving it unclear whether these adjustment problems
were also related concurrently or prospectively to dependency. In
addition, internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed
in separate models (as is common in most assessments of associations between internalizing and externalizing problems and
teacherchild relationship quality), making it unclear whether
internalizing and externalizing relate independently to the distinct
dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality.
While the Doumen et al. (2008) assessments occurred about
four months apart, developmental and dynamic systems theories
suggest that the directional associations between child adjustment
and relationship quality may occur over a shorter time frame.
The current study uses a cross-lagged panel design with data collected three times over one school term (with assessments about 2
months apart) to investigate the transactions between child adjustment and relationship quality within a time frame that is proposed
to capture uctuations in both child adjustment and relationship
quality. A cohort sequential design is used to assess age-related
differences in the associations between child adjustment and relationship quality.
Age-related differences in the hypothesized models
Age-related differences in the concurrent and prospective associations between child adjustment and teacherchild relationship
quality are examined in the current study. We specically compare these associations between children in kindergarten and rst
grade to children in second and third grades to assess whether
these associations differ due to childrens age or the length of time
they have been in schools. Teachers may interact with younger children (kindergarten and grade 1) somewhat differently than older
children (grades 2 and 3) as there is typically a greater focus on
childrens social-emotional learning in the younger grades than in
the older grades (Jones & Bouffard, 2012). This may contribute to
teachers being more focused on childrens adjustment in the early
grades than in the older grades. In the older grades, teachers may
be more focused on childrens academic learning. Consequently,
younger children may have more opportunities to interact and
talk with teachers about their feelings and behaviors than older
17
children. This may give teachers of younger children more insight

into childrens social-emotional development and enhance the
relationship formed between the teacher and children. On the other
hand, younger children may have a harder time regulating their
emotions and behaviors and be more challenging for teachers to
bond with relative to older children. Greater adjustment problems
may thus be more likely to undermine younger childrens prospective relationship with teachers relative to older children.
Current study
In sum, the current study tests whether the associations
between childrens adjustment problems (internalizing and
externalizing problems) and teacherchild relationship quality
(closeness, conict, dependency) in early elementary school are
best described by a relationship-driven, child-driven, or transactional model and whether child adjustment problems show
domain specicity in their associations with distinct dimensions
of teacherchild relationship quality. These models are tested
with a sample of low-income, ethnically diverse children and
their teachers. The following research questions are examined: (1)
Does teacherchild relationship quality contribute to prospective
levels adjustment problems across one school term, accounting for the stability of these constructs over the school term,
their concurrent associations, and a set of baseline covariates?
(2) Do childrens adjustment problems contribute to prospective
levels of teacherchild relationship quality, adjusting for the stability of these constructs, their concurrent associations, and the
baseline covariates? (3) Do childrens adjustment problems and
teacherchild relationship quality transact over the school term,
after accounting for the stability and concurrent associations and
baseline covariates? (4) Do the prospective associations in the best
tting models differ by childrens grade level (kindergarten and
grade 1 vs. grades 2 and 3)?
Methods
Participants
Children in kindergarten to grade 3 were recruited from 63
classrooms in 10 high needs, ethnically diverse elementary schools
in Western Canada. In total, 461 children (mean age = 6.87 years,
SD = 1.19, range = 4.259.42 years) and their teachers (average
age = 37.38 years, SD = 11.17) participated. Children were equally
represented by gender (51% girls, 49% boys) and grade (27.3%
Kindergarten, 29.5% Grade 1, 21.5% Grade 2, and 21.7% Grade 3).
Based on parent reports, children were ethnically diverse: Caucasian (50.5%), Aboriginal (12.5%), Black/African Canadian (10.3%),
South East/East Asian (8.8%), South/West Asian (6.6%), Latin American (6.3%), and mixed ethnicities (5.0%). In addition, 35.9% of
children were rst- or second-generation Canadians, 58.4% of families spoke a language other than English in the home once in a
while to all the time, 31% of children lived in a single-parent
household, 21.5% of mothers and 25.4% of fathers did not graduate
high school, and 40.2% of mothers and 14.4% of fathers were not
employed. Teachers were mostly female (96.9%), had been teaching on average 11.78 years (SD = 9.53), 77.8% had a Bachelors degree
and 22.2% had a 2-year after-degree (equivalent to a M.Ed.). Teacher
ethnicity was 82.2% Caucasian, 4.4% Aboriginal, 2.2% Black/African
Canadian, 6.7% Asian, and 4.4% Latin American.
Procedures
Consent packages were sent home to all parents of children in
kindergarten to grade 3 to inform them of the study and to request
their active consent for their child to participate. Parents were
18
asked to return the consent packages regardless of whether they

granted consent or not. Consent was requested at each wave for
children new to the school or who had not previously returned a
consent form. Overall, 60% of parent consent forms were returned
and of these returned forms, the majority of parents granted consent (range = 7780% across waves). Of all eligible children, 43%
(range = 41.543.8% across waves) had active parental consent to
participate. Children were also asked to assent to data collection at
each wave. Overall, 83.1% (N = 46) of eligible teachers consented to
complete surveys on the children with consent in their classrooms.
Three waves of data were collected over one school term. Baseline data were collected in January (W1) from 417 children. Follow
up data were collected in March (W2) from 450 children (new
entrants = 44 children, attrition = 11 children) and in June (W3)
from 438 children (attrition = 12 children). Overall, 350 children
had teacher-rated data at one or more time points (data for 111
children were not available due to teacher non-consent or survey
non-completion). In contrast to children with at least one wave
of teacher-rated data, children missing teacher-rated data at all
waves were older (M = 6.8 years, SD = 1.2 vs. M = 7.2 years, SD = 1.2,
respectively, t[459] = 3.17, p < .01) but did not differ by gender.
Measures
Adjustment problems
Teachers reported on childrens internalizing and externalizing
problems using the Behavior and Assessment System for Children II
(BASC-2: Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). Internalizing problems were
assessed from two subscales: the depression subscale assessed
symptoms of sadness, hopelessness, and loneliness (10 items; e.g.,
seems lonely, is easily upset); the anxiety subscale assessed
nervousness, worries, and fears (7 items; e.g., is nervous, worries what other kids might think). Externalizing problems were
assessed from three subscales: the aggression subscale assessed
verbal and physical aggression (10 items; e.g., threatens to hurt
others, argues when denied own way); the attention problems
subscale assessed ability to maintain attention and susceptibility
to distractions (7 items; e.g., is easily distracted, has short attention span); the hyperactivity subscale assessed poor self-control
and impulsivity (10 items; e.g., acts out of control, is overly
active). Teachers rated how often children displayed these internalizing and externalizing indicators during the past 30 days on
a 4-point scale (0 = never, 3 = always). Internal consistencies were
high across waves for the internalizing subscales (s = .82.87) and
the externalizing subscales (s = .88.96). The two internalizing
subscales were moderately to highly correlated at each wave
(rs = .64.77, p < .05) as were the three externalizing subscales
(rs = .49.80, p < .05). Scores from the two internalizing subscales
and from the three externalizing subscales were averaged to compute an overall internalizing index and an overall externalizing
index at each wave, respectively.
Teacherchild relationship quality
Teachers reported on their relationship quality with children
using three subscales of the Student Teacher Relationship Scale
(Pianta & Steinberg, 1992): the closeness subscale assessed the
degree to which teachers and child share a comforting relationship (7 items; e.g., this child values his/her relationship with me,
I share a warm, affectionate relationship with this child); the conict subscale assessed the degree of struggles in the relationship (7
items; e.g., this child easily becomes angry with me, dealing with
this child drains my energy); the dependency subscale assessed
the degree to which the child is overly reliant on the teacher
(5 items; e.g., this child is overly dependent on me, this child
reacts strongly to separation from me). Teachers rated the indicators on a 5-point scale (0 = denitely does not apply, 4 = denitely
applies). Internal consistencies were high across waves for closeness (s = .81.85) and conict (s = .89.91) and moderate for
dependency (s = .68.73).
Baseline covariates
Each cross-lagged path model adjusted for a set of covariates
that included: child age, child gender (0 = boys, 1 = girls), class size
(M =17.80, SD = 4.52), teachers education (0 = Bachelors degree,
1 = 2-year after-degree), and teachers years of teaching experience
(M = 11.78 years, SD = 9.53).
Data analytic strategy
Analyses are presented in three main sections. First, descriptive
statistics of the criterion constructs are examined for the overall
sample and by grade. Bivariate correlations among the constructs
are also presented. Second, a series of auto-regressive, cross-lagged
path analysis models assessing the concurrent and prospective
associations between adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality are examined using Mplus 7.2 (Muthn & Muthn,
2011). Third, multiple group models are used to examine agerelated differences in the best tting models (kindergarten and
grade 1 vs. grades 2 and 3). All models are clustered by classroom
to account for the nesting of children within classrooms. In each
model tested, each construct is regressed on child age, gender,
class size, and teachers education and years of teaching experience at each wave.1 Full information maximum likelihood (FIML)
estimation with robust standard errors is used to estimate missing
data. FIML estimation uses data available from each case to produce
unbiased parameter estimates and standard errors. The likelihood
estimate is computed separately for cases with incomplete data and
for cases with complete data, integrating estimates over all possible values to produce parameter estimates that are most likely to
have resulted in the observed data (Allison, 2002).
Model t is assessed using the chi-square statistic (2 ), comparative t index (CFI), root-mean-square error of approximation
(RMSEA), and standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR:
Kline, 2011). The 2 test evaluates how the hypothesized models differ from the null model but is sensitive to sample size. CFI
values of .95 or greater signify excellent model t and values of
.90.94 signify adequate t. The RMSEA index takes into account
model complexity and parsimony. RMSEA and SRMR values of
.05 or lower signify excellent model t, while values of .06.08
indicate adequate model t (Kline, 2011). Model comparisons are
calculated via the SatorraBentler scaled chi-square (2 ) likelihood
ratio difference test to assess the t statistics of nested models
(e.g., relationship-driven vs. transactional). The Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) is used to compare non-nested models (e.g.,
relationship-driven vs. child-driven).
Results
Descriptive statistics
Descriptive statistics of the criterion constructs are presented
in Table 1. On average, children showed low levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at each wave. Across waves,
teachers reported high average levels of teacherchild closeness and low average levels of conict and dependency. There
1
As closeness and conict shared a strong positive association at each time point,
we tested additional models where conict was controlled for in the closeness models and closeness was controlled for in the conict models. Findings from these
models were similar to those without these additional controls. For simplicity we
removed these additional control variables.
Table 1
Descriptive statistics for child adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship
quality.
Variables
.82.85
Wave 1
Wave 2
.83.85
.84.87
Wave 3
.91.93
Wave 1
.88.94
Wave 2
Wave 3
.96.94
Teacherchild closeness
.81
Wave 1
Wave 2
.82
.85
Wave 3
Teacherchild conict
Wave 1
.89
.89
Wave 2
.91
Wave 3
Teacherchild dependency
Wave 1
.68
.71
Wave 2
.73
Wave 3
Mean
SD
300
243
203
0.35
0.34
0.35
.36
.37
.36
0.002.18
0.002.29
0.002.00
300
243
203
0.68
0.68
0.64
.56
.54
.56
0.002.44
0.002.41
0.002.59
298
237
201
3.12
3.02
3.21
.71
.71
.66
1.134.00
1.134.00
0.884.00
297
238
201
0.63
0.64
0.61
.91
.85
.89
0.003.86
0.003.71
0.004.00
297
238
200
0.77
0.81
0.66
.74
.73
.71
0.003.40
0.003.20
0.003.20
Range
Note. Internal consistencies for adjustment problems indicate range across subscales.
were modest grade level differences in mean levels of the constructs. On average, children in kindergarten (Ms = 3.263.27,
SDs = 0.720.75) had closer relationships with teachers compared
to children in grade 2 at wave 2 (M = 3.10, SD = 0.69; F[3] = 6.43,
p < .01) and children in grade 3 at wave 2 and 3 (Ms = 2.802.95,
SDs = 0.520.59; F[3] = 3.366.43, p < .05). At wave 2, children in
kindergarten (M = 0.90, SD = 1.08) also experienced more conict in
the teacherchild relationship than children in grade 1 (M = 0.49,
SD = 0.75; F[3] = 2.77, p < .05).
The bivariate correlations between the criterion constructs
at each wave are presented in Table 2. Rank order stability
was high across waves for internalizing and externalizing problems and teacherchild conict and moderate across waves for
teacherchild closeness and dependency. Internalizing and externalizing problems were moderately correlated within and across
waves. Teacherchild conict was weakly and negatively correlated with teacherchild closeness and moderately and positively
correlated with teacherchild dependency within and across
waves. Teacherchild closeness was unrelated to dependency
across waves. Teacherchild closeness was weakly and negatively correlated with externalizing problems within and across
waves but was only correlated with internalizing problems at one
wave. Teacherchild conict and dependency were moderately
and positively correlated with both internalizing and externalizing
problems within and across waves.
Autoregressive, cross-lagged path models

Next, a series of autoregressive, cross-lagged path analysis models were tested to assess the directional associations between
child adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality (see Fig. 1). A stability model with the autoregressive paths
for each construct (e.g., W2 internalizing regressed on W1 internalizing) and the within-time co-variances between constructs
(e.g., W1 internalizing with W1 closeness) was tested as a reference for the primary models. The relationship-driven model
added paths from teacherchild relationship quality to lagged
internalizing and externalizing problems (e.g., W2 internalizing
and externalizing regressed on W1 relationship quality) to assess
the hypothesis that teacherchild relationship quality contributes
19
to prospective adjustment problems.2 The child-driven model

added paths from internalizing and externalizing problems to
lagged teacherchild relationship quality (e.g., W2 relationship
quality regressed on W1 internalizing and externalizing) to test
the hypothesis that childrens adjustment problems contribute to
prospective teacherchild relationship quality. The transactional
model added bidirectional paths between internalizing and externalizing problems and teacherchild relationship quality (e.g., W2
internalizing and externalizing regressed on W1 relationship quality, W2 relationship quality regressed on W1 internalizing and
externalizing) to test the hypothesis that childrens adjustment
problems and teacherchild relationship quality mutually contribute to prospective levels of each other. Each set of models is
tested with teacherchild closeness, conict, and dependency separately. In each model, each construct at each wave is regressed
on a set of baseline covariates that include child age, gender,
class size, and teachers education and years of teaching experience.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild closeness
Each of the four models testing the within-time and prospective
associations between child adjustment problems and teacherchild
closeness t the data well but the stability model provided the
best t to the data (see Table 3). Consistent with the bivariate
correlations, there was moderate to high stability in the internalizing and externalizing autoregressive paths and moderate stability
in the teacherchild closeness autoregressive paths (see Fig. 2).
Teacherchild closeness was weakly and negatively correlated with
concurrent levels of internalizing problems in the early spring and
with externalizing problems in the winter and early spring. Internalizing and externalizing problems were moderately correlated at
each wave. In order, the stability model explained 73%, 87%, and 65%
of the variance in internalizing problems, externalizing problems,
and teacherchild closeness at W3.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild conict
The four models testing the within-time and prospective associations between child adjustment problems and teacherchild
conict each t the data well, with the child-driven model providing the best t to the data (see Table 3). There was moderate
stability in the autoregressive paths for teacherchild conict (see
Fig. 3). Teacherchild conict was moderately and positively correlated with concurrent levels of internalizing and externalizing
problems at each wave. Beyond these concurrent associations,
externalizing problems at W1 and W2 contributed to moderately
higher levels of prospective teacherchild conict. Internalizing
problems did not contribute to prospective levels of teacherchild
conict. In order, the child-driven model explained 72%, 87%, and
70% of the variance in internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and teacherchild conict at W3.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild dependency
The four models testing the concurrent and prospective
associations between adjustment problems and teacherchild
dependency all t the data well (see Table 3). Consistent with
the ndings for teacherchild conict, the child-driven model
provided the best t to the data. There was moderate stability
in the autoregressive paths for teacherchild dependency (see
Fig. 4). As found for teacherchild conict, teacherchild dependency was moderately and positively correlated with concurrent
2
Models with the paths from winter relationship quality to adjustment problems
in late spring were also tested. These additional direct paths were not signicant,
while the initial paths tested were still signicant. Thus, we removed these paths
from winter (wave 1) to late spring (wave 3).
20
Table 2
Bivariate correlations between child adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality.
Variables
1. Wave 1
2. Wave 2
.76**
3. Wave 3
.77**
.47**
4. Wave 1
5. Wave 2
.45**
6. Wave 3
.48**
7. Wave 1
.09
8. Wave 2
.04
9. Wave 3
.06
Teacherchild conict
.48**
10. Wave 1
11. Wave 2
.39**
12. Wave 3
.46**
.49**
13. Wave 1
14. Wave 2
.54**
15. Wave 3
.54**
10
11
12
13
14
.42**
.40**
.55**
.64**
.61**
.65**
.71**
.40**
.49**
.44**
.10
.10
.22**
.50**
.46**
.54**
.09
.09
.07
.85**
.87**
.13*
.15*
.17*
.90**
.12
.15*
.24*
.24**
.25**
.25**
.59**
.69**
.62**
.45**
.52**
.38**
.49**
.47**
.56**
.73**
.66**
.63**
.61**
.75**
.69**
.66**
.69**
.74**
.29**
.18**
.17*
.20**
.21**
.18*
.27**
.25**
.22**
.71**
.72**
.78**
.44**
.60**
.49**
.47**
.50**
.64**
.49**
.42**
.46**
.42**
.51**
.45**
.40**
.41**
.48**
.04
.00
.03
.07
.01
.01
.04
.05
.04
.55**
.39**
.43**
.44**
.57**
.41**
Note. Stability coefcients are shown in boldface.

*
p < .05.
**
p < 01.
levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at each wave.

Beyond these concurrent associations, internalizing problems at
W1 and W2 contributed to moderately higher prospective levels of teacherchild dependency. Externalizing problems did not
contribute to prospective levels of teacherchild dependency. In
order, the child-driven model explained 72%, 87%, and 56% of the
variance in internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and
teacherchild dependency at W3.
Baseline covariates
As found in the best tting models described above, younger
children experienced closer relationships with their teachers at
W2 ( = .14, SE = .06, p < .05) and at W3 ( = .10, SE = .05, p < .05)
and experienced higher levels of internalizing problems at W2
( = .10, SE = .05, p < .05) than older children. Older children had
more externalizing problems at W3 than younger children ( = .05,
SE = .02, p < .05). Boys had higher levels of externalizing problems at W1 than girls ( = .21, SE = .06, p < .01). Girls had more
conictual relationships at W2 ( = .07, SE = .03, p < .05) and W3

( = .06, SE = .03, p < .05) than boys. Children in classrooms with
fewer children showed more externalizing problems ( = .13,
SE = .06, p < .05), conictual relationships ( = .21, SE = .07, p < .01),
and dependent relationships ( = .22, SE = .08, p < .01) at W1 than
children in larger classrooms. Teachers with a B.Ed. experienced
closer relationships with children at W2 relative to teachers with an
after-degree ( = .17, SE = .08, p < .05). Teachers with more years of
teaching experience reported that children in their classroom had
higher levels of internalizing problems ( = .15, SE = .06, p < .05) and
externalizing problems ( = .10, SE = .04, p < .05) at W3 than teachers
with fewer years of teaching experience.
Multiple-group models
Last, a series of multiple-group models testing grade differences
in the best-tting models were examined. First, the within-time,
autoregressive, and cross-time paths were constrained to be equal
Table 3
Cross-lagged path models assessing the directional associations between child adjustment and teacherchild relationship quality.
Model
2 (df)
1. Stability
2. Relationship-Driven
3. Child-Driven
4. Transactional
24.59 (18), ns
22.87 (14), p < .10
22.04 (14), p < .10
20.38 (10), p < .05
Teacherchild conict
1. Stability
3. Child-Driven
4. Transactional
1. Stability
3. Child-Driven
4. Transactional
RMSEA (90% CI)
SRMR
BIC
.994
.992
.992
.990
.032 (.00.06)
.043 (.00.07)
.040 (.00.07)
.055 (.02.09)
.029
.026
.026
.024
2156.21
2176.76
2178.00
2198.70
58.71 (18), p < .01

41.28 (14), p < .01
17.11 (14), ns
7.86 (10), ns
.971
.980
.998
1.00
.080 (.06.10)
.075 (.05.10)
.025 (.00.06)
.000 (.00.05)
.055
.031
.028
.009
2214.30
2215.06
2184.69
2196.64
56.91 (18), p < .01

49.38 (14), p < .01
15.58 (14), ns
13.10 (10), ns
.969
.970
.999
.997
.079 (.06.10)
.085 (.06.11)
.018 (.00.06)
.030 (.00.07)
.068
.054
.027
.019
2221.62
2237.31
2193.25
2213.84
Note. Best-tting models are shown in boldface.
CFI
Model comparisons: 2 (df)
vs. Stability: 2 = 2.19 (4), ns

vs. Relationship-Driven: 2 = 1.50 (4), ns
vs. Child-Driven: 2 = 2.04 (4), ns
vs. Stability: 2 = 17.21 (4), p < .01

vs. Stability: 2 = 39.32 (4), p < .01
vs. Stability: 2 = 49.90 (8), p < .01
vs. Relationship-Driven: 2 = 32.99 (4), p < .01

vs. Stability: 2 = 36.82 (4), p < .01
vs. Stability: 2 = 42.49 (8), p < .01
vs. Relationship-Driven: 2 = 32.40 (4), p < .01
21
Fig. 2. Stability model for child adjustment problems and teacherchild closeness. Unstandardized (standard error)/standardized estimates presented. Dashed lines indicate
non-signicant paths. Model Fit: 2 (18) = 24.59, ns; CFI = .994; RMSEA = .032 (.000, .060); SRMR = .029. t p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01.
across grades (kindergarten and grade 1 vs. grades 2 and 3). The
t of these models was then compared to the t of models where
the estimates for the within-time, autoregressive, and cross-time
paths were sequentially allowed to vary between kindergarten
and grade 1 children versus grades 2 and 3 children. Multiplegroup models indicated signicant grade-level differences in
the within-time associations between adjustment problems and

teacherchild closeness (2 [9] = 54.34, p < .01) and teacherchild
conict (2 [9] = 22.84, p < .01). These ndings indicated that
the concurrent associations between adjustment problems and
teacherchild closeness and conict were modestly stronger for
children in kindergarten and grade 1 relative to children in grades
Fig. 3. Child-driven model for child adjustment problems and teacherchild conict. Unstandardized (standard error)/standardized estimates presented. Dashed lines indicate
non-signicant paths. Model Fit: 2 (14) = 17.11, ns; CFI = .998; RMSEA = .025 (.000, .060); SRMR = .028. t p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01.
22
Fig. 4. Child-driven model for child adjustment problems and teacherchild dependency. Unstandardized (standard error)/standardized estimates presented. Dashed lines
indicate non-signicant paths. Model Fit: 2 (14) = 15.58, ns; CFI = .999; RMSEA = .018 (.000, .060); SRMR = .027. t p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01.
2 and 3. Grade differences in the prospective associations were not

signicant in any of the models tested.
Discussion
The current study assessed three directional models
(relationship-driven, child-driven, and transactional) of how
childrens adjustment problems (internalizing and externalizing
problems) were temporally related to teacherchild relationship
quality (closeness, conict, and dependency). We extended past
research on these associations by examining how childrens
adjustment problems were uniquely and temporally related to
three dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality over one
school term. We examined these associations over the course of
one school term to capture the dynamic nature of both child adjustment and teacherchild relationship quality and the potential for
these to change in response to each other over a short time frame.
In support of socialization theory (Grusec, 2002; McHale & Crouter,
2003), the child-driven model t the data best for teacherchild
conict and dependency. However, the stability model t the data
best for teacherchild closeness. These ndings exemplify the
importance of child behaviors for ongoing negative teacherchild
relationships. While it can be argued that teachers have the power
to establish the quality of the relationship with children (Pianta,
1999), children and their individual characteristics appear to play
a substantial role in the type of relationship formed with a teacher.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild conict
After accounting for the stability in adjustment problems and
teacherchild conict across the school term, both internalizing
and externalizing problems were consistently related to higher
concurrent levels of teacherchild conict at each wave. Beyond
these stability and concurrent path estimates, higher levels of
child externalizing problems (but not internalizing problems) contributed to greater prospective teacherchild conict across both
lagged estimates. These ndings suggest that while childrens

displays of sad, anxious behaviors and aggressive, disruptive behaviors are linked to more concurrent conict between teachers and
children, only aggressive, disruptive behaviors demonstrate lingering adverse effects on the degree of conict that teachers
perceive in their relationships with children. Previous research
has found that conict in the teacherchild relationship predicts
childrens concurrent and prospective externalizing problems, supporting a relationship-driven model of conict (Baker et al., 2008;
OConnor, Scott, McCormick, & Weinberg, 2014). However, some
of these studies did not control for childrens internalizing problems (OConnor et al., 2014) and others categorized children into
externalizing problem groups based on cut-off scores (Baker et al.,
2008). We included internalizing and externalizing problems in all
of our models and adjustment problems were dened on a continuum rather than based on cut-off scores. These differences may
explain the inconsistent ndings between these previous studies
and the current study.
Children with externalizing problems tend to be more disruptive in the classroom and a source of stress and frustration for
teachers (Greene, Beszterczey, Katzenstein, Park, & Goring, 2002;
Rubin & Mills, 1991). These behaviors increase childrens likelihood
of receiving more negative attention from the teacher (Coplan &
Prakash, 2003; Hughes et al., 1999). In turn, these aggressive, disruptive behaviors may elevate childrens likelihood of interacting
with their teacher more but in ways that are characterized by tension and conict. Aggressive, disruptive children are also likely on
the receiving end of more behavior management and discipline
from the teacher (Hughes et al., 1999). Over time, these negative interactions may leave children feeling anger toward their
teacher and result in more conict in the relationship over time.
It is also important to note that not all children who are disruptive or aggressive tend to form more conictual relationships with
teachers. Some children, based on aspects of their temperament for
example, may be better positioned to form less conictual relationships with their teachers (Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Hamre, Pianta,
Downer, & Mashburn, 2008). Teachers may nd certain children

more endearing based on these child characteristics and this could
result in children who may be difcult in the classroom yet still
likable (Hamre et al., 2008).
Adjustment problems and teacherchild dependency
Beyond the stability in each construct and the concurrent associations between adjustment problems and relationship quality,
higher levels of both child internalizing and externalizing problems were consistently associated with higher concurrent levels of
dependency in the teacherchild relationship. Beyond these paths,
child internalizing problems (but not externalizing problems) contributed prospectively to more dependency in the teacherchild
relationship across both lagged estimates. These ndings suggest
that children who display either sad, anxious or aggressive, disruptive behaviors are perceived by teachers as more concurrently
dependent on them, but only children who display sad, anxious
behaviors sustain this dependency on teachers over time.
Children who display more sadness and anxiety may come
to develop more dependency in their relationships with teachers
over time because of the type of attention they attract. Children
with internalizing problems are often characterized as withdrawn,
distant, and quiet (Rubin & Mills, 1991). Teachers may interact
frequently with children who seem anxious and fearful in the
classroom and give them more attention in an effort to sensitively respond to their insecurities in the classroom setting (Coplan
& Prakash, 2003; Howes, Hamilton, & Matheson, 1994). Unfortunately, these children may consequently become overly reliant
on teachers to minimize their feelings of sadness, anxiety, or
fearfulness. Using their teacher as a lone source of support may
limit childrens initiative to explore their classroom environment
or to initiate or receive interactions with peers (Howes et al.,
1994). There may also be some children who do exhibit more sadness and anxiety in the classroom, but may still be able to form
closer relationships with their teacher. Similar to the individual
child characteristics mentioned previously (e.g., childrens temperament, self-regulatory abilities), teachers may nd some children
with more internalizing problems endearing and report having
closer relationships with these children as opposed to dependent
ones (Gregoriadis & Grammatikopoulos, 2014). Also, not all children who have higher levels of internalizing problems necessarily
cling to the teacher for support in the classroom. Some children
may choose to withdraw completely from both peers and teachers
(Rubin & Mills, 1991). This seems especially problematic for children and more care may need to be taken by teachers and other
adults in the school setting to ensure these children do not go
unnoticed completely.
Adjustment problems and teacherchild closeness
In contrast to expectations, few associations between adjustment problems and teacherchild closeness were found. Consistent
with previous ndings, after accounting for the stability in adjustment and teacherchild closeness, adjustment problems and
teacherchild closeness were modestly associated within-time but
not across the lagged assessments (Baker et al., 2008; OConnor
et al., 2014; Zhang & Sun, 2011). Childrens adjustment problems
may only relate to relational closeness within time because teachers who report less closeness with children are also reporting
more conict or dependency. As our ndings suggest, childrens
adjustment problems may be a more salient predictor of negative
dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality as teachers may
be more irritated by than supportive of these adjustment problems
in children (OConnor et al., 2014). It could also be that children
who experience high levels of closeness in their relationship with
23
teachers are buffered from adjustment problems over longer

periods of time than those captured here, such as across one school
year. By the second term of the school year, teachers may come
to perceive childrens adjustment problems as more stable traits
than transient behaviors and be unmotivated or unable to provide
the supportive, caring behaviors necessary to lessen childrens
adjustment problems (Thijs, Koomen, & van der Leij, 2008). Also,
teacherchild closeness was only moderately stable across the
assessment periods and other child or teacher characteristics may
have inuenced this stability. Even when children exhibit fewer
adjustment problems they may still have other characteristics
(e.g., less self-regulation) that a teacher may not appreciate or
relate to, which could inuence teachers reports of less close
relationships with these children. Teacher qualities (e.g., efcacy
or burnout) may also impact how often teachers report closeness
in the teacherchild relationship (Hoglund, Klingle, & Hosan, 2015;
OConnor, 2010). If teachers feel more motivated to bond with
children and do not feel drained from all their job duties they may
be more receptive to children and have closer relationships with
children, regardless of childrens adjustment problems.
Age-related differences
Modest age-related differences were found in the within-time
associations for the closeness and conict models. However, these
differences were not overly consistent or strong across grades
for the closeness model. These differences were more consistent
across grades in the conict model with younger childrens levels of
adjustment problems more strongly and positively associated with
conicted teacherchild relationships compared to older children.
Younger childrens adjustment problems may be more strongly
related to relationship quality because younger children often rely
on their teachers more and spend more time with them in the classroom. Teachers may have a better sense of childrens adjustment
problems and this could have a stronger inuence on the quality of
the relationship formed with children. Alternatively, older children
may interact less with their teacher and rely more on their peers
for support in the classroom. Fewer teacherchild interactions may
indicate that older childrens adjustment problems are not as inuential to teacherchild relationship quality and that other child
characteristics (e.g., school engagement) are more strongly related
to concurrent relationship quality. No age-related differences in the
lagged associations were found. These limited differences suggest
that the contributions of adjustment problems to teacherchild
conict and dependency are stable across children in the early
elementary grades. However, children with different individual
characteristics may have adjustment problems that contribute to
more negative teacherchild relationships depending on childrens
age. Perhaps younger children who also exhibit less effortful control
in classrooms are more susceptible to their adjustment problems
contributing to later conictual or dependent relationships with
teachers (Rudasill, 2011).
Implications for educational practice
Overall, ndings for both teacherchild conict and dependency provide support for the idea that childrens behaviors have
the potential to impact the relationship they share with teachers
and likely the way that teachers respond to children (Pianta, 1999).
These ndings speak to the power childrens behavior exerts in
their ongoing relationships with teachers and also demonstrates
the domain specicity of internalizing versus externalizing problems for dependency or conict in childrens relationships with
teachers. Thus, whether children exhibit more sadness and anxiety or aggression and hyperactivity, different forms of support and
strategies may be needed by both teachers and children to enhance
24
the quality of their relationship. For example, teachers may be

giving sad and anxious children more one-on-one attention when
it would be more benecial for the teacher to facilitate more peer
interactions and more independent work habits (Coplan & Prakash,
2003). Children would likely still feel supported by the teacher, but
be more condent in their ability to interact with peers and complete class activities independently without the constant aid and
presence of their teacher.
Adjusting the type of attention given to children may also help
nurture better quality relationships for more disruptive children.
While teachers tend to give these children more attention, it is usually not to deliver praise or to connect with these children (Coplan &
Prakash, 2003). Teachers will likely still need to address the behavior of disruptive children, but if they use more proactive strategies
and match these disciplinary interactions with relationship building interactions (e.g., conversing about the childs interests, offering
encouragement during classroom activities, offering some praise
throughout the day) this may show disruptive children that their
teacher is not always targeting them for misbehavior (Hughes,
Cavell, & Willson, 2001). This could, in turn, build up the childs trust
in their teacher and allow the child and teacher to become closer.
Efforts (e.g., professional development workshops, teacher support programs) to increase pre-service and in-service teachers
knowledge about interactions with children in their class and to
help teachers develop the skills to facilitate high quality interactions are underway to give teachers information about how their
relationships with children can inuence childrens later school
success (e.g., school readiness, academic performance; Downer,
Locasale-Crouch, Hamre, & Pianta, 2009; Hamre et al., 2012). Comprehensive strategies to sensitively disseminate research ndings
(such as those identied here) to teachers and supportive opportunities for teachers to self-reect on their interactions with children
may help create awareness about how specic child characteristics (e.g., externalizing and internalizing problems) can contribute
to more negative teacherchild relationships. This knowledge may
also enhance teachers awareness of how they interact with diverse
children. For example, My Teaching Partner, a web-based support program, provides teachers with individualized support and
feedback to add to teachers knowledge and skills that enable
them to have more positive interactions with children (Hadden &
Pianta, 2006). This type of evidence-based programming is essential because it not only disseminates relationship quality research
to teachers, it also gives teachers ongoing feedback about their own
teaching practices and how this may inuence their relationships
with children (Pianta & Allen, 2008).
Limitations and future research
Overall, this study contributes to the body of research on childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild relationship quality
by documenting domain specicity in the contributions of child
externalizing and internalizing problems to teacherchild conict
and dependency, respectively. The sample in the current study also
included children from a range of racial and ethnic groups and from
lower-income families. Thus our ndings may be particularly generalizable to low-income, ethnically diverse children in high needs
school settings. Nonetheless, the associations found here may be
in part a function of shared method bias as we relied on teachers
perceptions of childrens adjustment problems and teacherchild
relationship quality. Thus, teachers may have responded to
questions about relationship quality based on their perceptions
of childrens adjustment problems, resulting in a response bias
rather than a legitimate association between these two constructs
(Pianta et al., 1995). However, within-time associations between
childrens adjustment problems and dimensions of relationship
quality were controlled for in each model which suggests the
signicant cross-lagged paths are not solely explained by a shared

response bias (Doumen et al., 2008). As others have argued (Thijs
et al., 2008) and our ndings suggest, teachers perceptions of
childrens adjustment problems likely inuence how they perceive
their relationship with children. Future research that includes
child reports or observations of teacherchild relationship quality
may nd associations that differ from those documented here.
The timing of our assessments may have also inuenced the
directional associations found here. We did not examine these
associations across a full school year but rather investigated how
childrens adjustment problems relate to relationship quality over
a shorter period of time (i.e., one school term). Children and teachers likely established their relationship earlier in the school year
and if we had assessed adjustment problems and relationship quality at the beginning of the school year we may have also found that
these reciprocally affect each other (Zhang & Sun, 2011). The timing
of our assessments also did not allow us to account for the effects
of established relationship quality on childrens adjustment problems. However, while it can be argued that children and teachers
establish their relationships early in the school year this does not
mean that they do not experience changes in these relationships
over time. For example, our path analysis indicated only modest
stability in the relationship quality dimensions across the school
term. It could be that after the winter break, these relationship were
renegotiated and we captured associations between relationship
quality and adjustment problems in these renegotiated relationships. Future research examining the directionality between these
constructs across one school year would strengthen the conclusions
about how childrens adjustment problems inuence the types of
relationships they form with their teachers over time and may nd
more support for the transactional model tested here.
Future research on childrens adjustment problems and relationship quality with teachers may also consider the role of peers.
While teachers are arguably a vital contributor to childrens positive
developmental outcomes, peers likely play an equally important
role in the school setting as well. Our ndings demonstrate that
higher levels of adjustment problems can put children at risk of
experiencing more negative relationships with teachers. However,
how a teacher interacts with specic children can also affect how
peers will treat these children in the classroom (Bierman, 2011;
Chang et al., 2007; Farmer, McAuliffe Lines, & Hamm, 2011). For
example, if children who are more aggressive and disruptive form
more conictual relationships with their teachers, could this also
put them at risk of being perceived more negatively by their peers?
Such conict in relationships with teachers may serve as a negative model to classmates. Over time, observed conict in the
teacherchild relationship may elevate childrens risks for negativity in their peer relationships and contribute to the maintenance
of externalizing problems over time (Hughes et al., 2001).
Alternatively, children who are sad and anxious and form more
dependent relationships with teachers may be perceived as annoying by classmates, especially if the teacher demonstrates frustration
or annoyance when interacting with these children. Other peers
may also come to see these children as overly favored by the
teacher if they continuously receive more teacher attention, and
this may increase the likelihood that peers will avoid or maliciously
target these children (Birch & Ladd, 1998; Henricsson & Rydell,
2006; Howes et al., 1994). Together, these adverse teacher and
peer interactions may contribute to the maintenance of childrens
adjustment problems over time. Thus, investigating how childrens
adjustment problems, teacherchild relationship quality and peer
relationships are related over time may provide additional insight
into the complexity of relationships in the classroom context.
There are also other child and teacher characteristics that
could have inuenced the ndings of this study. For example,
childrens temperament (e.g., effortful control, anger/frustration,
activity level) are also linked to the quality of relationship they

form with their teachers. For instance, childrens lower effortful
control in grade 1 was related to more conictual teacherchild
relationships in grade 3 (Rudasill, 2011). Also, children with more
difcult temperaments (higher levels of anger/frustration and less
inhibitory control) also tend to have more conictual relationships
with teachers (Rudasill, Niehaus, Buhs, & White, 2013).
Similarly, there are some teacher characteristics that could
inuence the quality of relationships children form with their
teachers over time. Teachers reporting lower self-efcacy (e.g.,
whether teachers feel they can motivate children) tend to report
more conict in teacherchild relationships and teachers also tend
to report more conict with children in classrooms with lower
quality emotional support (Hamre et al., 2008). Teachers selfefcacy or burnout may also impact whether children experience
greater declines in their relationship quality over time (Hoglund
et al., 2015; OConnor, 2010). Future studies on the associations
between childrens adjustment problems and prospective relationships quality could test for whether these or additional child
and teacher characteristics mediate the directional associations
between child adjustment and teacherchild relationship quality.
Converging evidence documents the importance of childrens
adjustment in the school setting for the ongoing quality of their
relationships with teachers. This studys ndings also demonstrate
that young children can experience adjustment problems that
affect the relationship they share with their teacher. Strategies to
support young children in managing feelings of sadness and anxiety and regulating aggressive, disruptive behaviors may be key
to enhancing their positive, supportive relationships with teachers
and ability to thrive in the classroom. Supporting teachers in their
ability to nurture diverse childrens adjustment in the classroom
may help to lessen childrens adjustment problems and over time
foster supportive, positive relationships between teachers and children (OConnor, 2010).
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Early Childhood Research Quarterly 34 (2016) 1326

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Do childrens adjustment problems contribute to teacherchild

vulnerable to adjustment problems, such as internalizing problems

of one school term (see Fig. 1). The relationship-driven model

externalizing problems inuences the prospective relationship that

affect childrens prospective behaviors (Pianta, 1999; Sutherland &

Dimensions of teacherchild relationship quality and domains of

The inuence of relationship quality on child adjustment:

not be conducive to forming closer, more supportive relationships

The mutual inuence of child adjustment and relationship quality:

Few studies have investigated the bi-directionality between

children. This may give teachers of younger children more insight

asked to return the consent packages regardless of whether they

Autoregressive, cross-lagged path models

to prospective adjustment problems.2 The child-driven model

Note. Stability coefcients are shown in boldface.

levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at each wave.

conictual relationships at W2 ( = .07, SE = .03, p < .05) and W3

RMSEA (90% CI)

58.71 (18), p < .01

56.91 (18), p < .01

Note. Best-tting models are shown in boldface.

Model comparisons: 2 (df)

vs. Stability: 2 = 2.19 (4), ns

vs. Stability: 2 = 17.21 (4), p < .01

vs. Stability: 2 = 6.88 (4), ns

the within-time associations between adjustment problems and

2 and 3. Grade differences in the prospective associations were not

lagged estimates. These ndings suggest that while childrens

Downer, & Mashburn, 2008). Teachers may nd certain children

teachers are buffered from adjustment problems over longer

the quality of their relationship. For example, teachers may be

signicant cross-lagged paths are not solely explained by a shared

activity level) are also linked to the quality of relationship they

Adolescent Psychology, 37, 588599. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/

orientations, and behavioral orientations. Psychology in the Schools, 41,

Rudasill, K. M. (2011). Child temperament, teacherchild interactions, and

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