Letter from the Editor
Staff Articles
- Teacher-Student Conflict and Student Aggression in Kindergarten
- Factors Influencing Academic Motivation in Asian American Adolescents
- Ethnic Identification of Asian American Urban Youth: The Role of Generational Status in Predicting Psychological Well-Being
- The Impact of Childhood Adversity on Later Anxiety
- Children’s Implicit Theories of Intelligence: Attributions, Goals, and Reactions to Challenges
- Music and Leisure: The Use of Music in its Physical, Social, and Cognitive Modalities for Alzheimer’s Intervention
- Korean American Language Ability: Cultural Identification and Willingness to Sacrifice
- Selective Mutism: Motivation within Varying Treatment Approaches
- American Muslim Youth Identity
- A Cultural Examination of the Predictive Relation Between Latino Parental Engagement and Children’s School Readiness
- The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Anxiety and Aggression
- Classroom Emotional Support, Behaviors, and Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade: An Ecological Approach
- Teacher-Student Conflict and Student Aggression in Kindergarten
- American Muslim Youth Identity
- A Cultural Examination of the Predictive Relation Between Latino Parental Engagement and Children’s School Readiness
Emily Gallagher
Abstract
Early behavior problems are important aspects of schooling and difficulties in this area predict lower high school grade point average, negative attitudes towards school, disruptive, anti-social behaviors and higher dropout rates. Aggression is a particularly harmful aspect of behavior problems and early aggression is predictive of future aggression, delinquency and criminal activity. The early years of schooling provide a unique opportunity to shift the trajectories of behaviorally disruptive students before the problems affect later development. Early academic skills may be a protective factor against behavioral problems but little is known about how behavior problems, teacher student relationships, and early literacy skills interact in young students. The current study examines associations and interactions between academic achievement, behavior problems, and teacher-student relationships in a sample of kindergarteners from high poverty urban schools (N = 332, 51% male, 75% black). Preliminary analysis showed that teacher-student conflict at the beginning of kindergarten predicted student aggression at the end of kindergarten. Literacy skills at the beginning of kindergarten moderated this effect, magnifying the positive association between teacher-student conflict and aggression. Results are discussed in relation to early interventions to improve teacher-student relationships and student behavior problems in the early years.