Temperamental Anger and Effortful Control, Teacher–Child Conflict, and Externalizing Behavior Across the Elementary School Years

• Main Authors: Crockett, L.J (Author), Hoffman, L. (Author), Kalutskaya, I. (Author), Rudasill, K.M (Author), Wasserman, A.M (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Inc. 2018
• Subjects: anger; Anger; behavior disorder; child; child behavior; Child Behavior; Child Behavior Disorders; Child, Preschool; conflict; Conflict (Psychology); Faculty; female; Female; growth curve; human; human relation; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; juvenile; kindergarten; major clinical study; male; Male; mediator; model; physiology; preschool child; primary school; psychology; school; school teacher; School Teachers; Schools; teacher; temperament; Temperament; university
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher
• ISBN: 00093920 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12910

This study examined teacher–child conflict as a possible mediator of the effects of temperamental anger and effortful control on subsequent externalizing behavior. Reciprocal influences between teacher–child conflict and externalizing behavior were also examined. Participants were 1,152 children (49% female; 81.6% non-Hispanic White) from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Multivariate growth curve modeling revealed that greater effortful control at age 54 months indirectly predicted lower levels of, and subsequent changes in, externalizing behavior from kindergarten to Grade 6 through reduced teacher–child conflict. An alternative model, in which greater effortful control predicted lower teacher–child conflict through lower externalizing behavior, received less support. Within persons, greater-than-expected teacher–child conflict predicted greater-than-expected teacher-reported externalizing behavior concurrently and over time. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.