Predicting School Adjustment in Early Elementary School: Impact of Teacher‐Child Relationship Quality and Relational Classroom Climate

Abstract

Abstract This longitudinal study evaluated the impact of dyadic and classroom‐level teacher‐child relationship quality in first grade on children's psychosocial and academic adjustment in first (N = 3,784), second (N = 3,666), and third (N = 3,582) grade, controlling for several child features, namely, child demographics and children's initial levels of adjustment in kindergarten. Results of multilevel hierarchical regression analyses showed that first‐grade dyadic relationship variables (i.e., teacher‐child conflict and closeness) as well as classroom relational climate variables (i.e., the average level of teacher‐child conflict and closeness in the classroom) were associated with children's psychosocial adjustment in the first years of primary school. Associations between first‐grade dyadic relationship quality and classroom relational climate, on the one hand, and academic achievement on the other, however, were negligible.