Abstract
School transitions require students to adapt to new challenges and situations and can increase the risk of externalizing and internalizing psychological symptoms. The teacher-student relationship seems to be a protective factor for the risk of developing psychological symptoms during school transitions. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the quality of the teacher-student relationship predicts the decrease of internalizing and externalizing symptoms during three school transitions, namely: from kindergarten to primary school (T1), from primary to middle school (T2), and from middle to high school (T3). We recruited 127 kindergarten students (mean age = 5.40, SD = 0.49), 113 fifth grade primary school students (mean age = 10.64, SD = 0.54), and 240 eighth grade students (mean age = 13.88, SD = 0.37) and their teachers (response rate = 95%). Data were collected from 2016 to 2018. Teachers filled out an anonymous survey, acting as informants for the students, reporting demographic details (age, gender), psychological symptoms, and quality of the teacher-student relationship. The data show that a positive teacher-student relationship quality tends to be associated with a reduction of psychological symptoms. A stable, low-conflict teacher-student relationship was confirmed as a protective factor from increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms during all normative school transitions. Furthermore, we see that an increase in teacher-student conflict during the transitions from primary to middle school, and from middle to high school is linked to an exacerbation in students’ externalizing symptoms during the first year of attendance of the new school. Our study confirms the importance of the teacher-student relationship in reducing psychological symptoms associated with school transitions, in every type of transition, favoring an improved psychological adjustment to the new environment. A positive teacher-student relationship represents a protective factor for the development of students. Study limitations are discussed.
Highlights
During their scholastic career, students must cope with several school transitions, and each of them poses challenges on both an educational and a psychological level (Virtanen et al, 2019)
In light of our previous considerations, the present study investigated the role of changes in teacher-student relationship quality as a factor in students’ psychological adjustment during the normative school transitions from kindergarten to primary school, from primary to middle school, and from middle to high school
The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between teacher-student relationship quality and children and adolescents’ psychological adjustment during three normative school transitions, namely the transitions from kindergarten to primary school, from primary to middle school, and from middle to high school
Summary
Students must cope with several school transitions, and each of them poses challenges on both an educational and a psychological level (Virtanen et al, 2019). School transitions require a series of changes and adjustments to new people, environments, and needs, which may be perceived by minors as a source of stress. The passage to a new school setting requires students to face a series of transformations; the transition between kindergarten and primary school can be difficult and stressful (Quaglia et al, 2013; Wong, 2018; Wong and Power, 2019). During the transition from primary to secondary school, students face multiple changes, including moving to a new school, classroom with larger groups of students, an increase in the number of teachers, with different teaching style and expectations about their students’ behavior (Jindal-Snape and Foggie, 2008; Jindal-Snape and Miller, 2008). Teachers are often perceived as cold, impersonal, and unreceptive to students’ needs, and students must restructure their friendship networks (Scalera and Alivernini, 2010; Marengo et al, 2018b)
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