Pathways to Low-Income Children’s Self-Regulation: Child Temperament and the Qualities of Teacher–Child Relationships

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.

Acknowledgments

The findings reported here were from the Educare Implementation Study, funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund (Educare Omaha), and the College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska (Educare Lincoln), supplemented with data from a study of children’s self‐regulation, supported by the University of Nebraska. The author wishes to thank Educare Lincoln and Omaha schools, as well as the Munroe Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, for assistance in data collection.

Disclosure Statement

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