Research Findings: In the present study, we investigated the roles of children's social competence and immigrant background in the prediction of the quality of children's relationships with peers and teachers and school adjustment. Participants were N = 212 children (M[subscript age] = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72; n = 98 with an immigrant background)…

Research Findings: This study examines the development of problem behavior in classroom contexts characterized by peer interaction among a nationally representative sample (N = 3,827) of U.S. low-income children from preschool entry to first grade. Latent growth mixture modeling was employed to identify unobserved subpopulations (latent classes)…

Social-behavioral functioning during early childhood is associated with children's academic and social success concurrently and over time. This study explored how concurrent, year-to-year, and sustained parent--teacher and student--teacher relationships predicted children's social skills and problem behaviors across the preschool to Grade 1…

Teachers' ratings of conflict and closeness as well as observed emotional support are known predictors of children's social functioning. Consistency in emotional support represents an emerging line of research. The goal of the present study is to understand whether the relation between the consistency of teachers' emotional support and children's…

Research Findings: The transition to kindergarten has important ramifications for future achievement and psychosocial outcomes. Research suggests that physical aggression may be related to difficulty during school transitions, yet no studies to date have examined the role of relational aggression in these transitions. This article examines how…

Research Findings: The objective of this study was to examine the student-teacher relationship as a potential moderator of the link between executive functioning (EF) and children's early school readiness among a clinical sample of preschoolers with externalizing behavior problems (EBP). Participants for the study included 139 preschool children…

Research Findings: This study examined the quality of teacher attributions for child disruptive behavior using a new measure, the Preschool Teaching Attributions measure. A sample of 153 early childhood teachers and 432 children participated. All teachers completed the behavior attributions measure, as well as measures regarding demographics,…

Research Findings: Racial/ethnic minority low-income children with temperaments high in negative reactivity are at heightened risk for developing disruptive behavior problems. Teacher-child relationships characterized by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict may protect against the development of disruptive behaviors in school. The…

The aim of this prospective study was to identify preschool factors that are associated with children's classroom engagement during their 1st school year. The study was guided by a social-motivational process model that highlights the importance of parent-child and teacher-child relationships in promoting engagement. In preschool, parents and…