Teacher-child dependency in preschool: links with teacher-child closeness, conflict and children’s effortful control

ABSTRACT

Dependency is a scarcely investigated dimension of teacher-child (T-C) relationships that can reflect a lack of security and obstruct children’s autonomous exploration in the school context. We examined the within- and cross-time associations between T-C dependency, closeness, and conflict, and children’s effortful control, an ability related to children’s self-regulation. Data were collected during the preschool period at two time-points (T1 and T2) 1-year apart. Participants were 199 children (44% girls, M age = 47.47) attending 46 middle-class preschool classrooms. Results from path analyses indicated that, though marginally significant, there was a positive association between T-C dependency and conflict at T1. At T2, dependency was positively related to both conflict and closeness. Dependency at T1 positively predicted children’s effortful control at T2. This study clarifies the interconnection between T-C dependency, closeness and conflict, and the unique contribution of dependency onchildren’s effortful control. Findings are discussed considering the socio-cultural meaning of dependency.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher-child dependency
• teacher-child closeness
• teacher-child conflict
• effortful control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by FEDER, COMPETE program, and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, PTDC/MHC-CED/5218/2012 and PD/BD/114269/2016 grants.