Participant roles in preschool bullying: The impact of emotion regulation, social preference, and quality of the teacher–child relationship

Abstract

The present work investigated whether emotion regulation and social preference were associated with participant roles in bullying as a function of the quality of the relationship with teachers. Participants were 332 children (172 boys), in the age of 42–76 months (M = 58.74; SD = 7.84). Peer nominations were employed to assess social preference and participant roles (bullying, victimization, defending the victim, and outsider behavior). Teachers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist, which yields the dimensions of emotion regulation and lability/negativity, and the Student–Teacher Relationships Scale, to evaluate conflict and closeness with the teacher. Multilevel models highlighted that emotional lability was positively associated with bullying and outsider behavior, emotion regulation was positively related to bullying and defending behavior, and social preference was negatively associated with bullying and victimization and positively with defending behavior. Interactions indicated that lability and low social preference were associated with bullying, and emotion regulation with outsider behavior, in children with a conflictual relationship with the teacher whereas social preference was related to defending behavior in children with a close relationship with the teacher. Results are discussed highlighting the importance of the quality of teacher–child relationship and the relevance of intervention programs aimed at promoting social wellbeing in preschool.

Peer Victimisation in Early Childhood; Observations of Participant Roles and Sex Differences

“…By contrast, there was some consistency in reports by children and their teachers on 5-year-olds’ aggression, victimisation and defending [ 8 ]. Additionally, based on peer and teacher reports, Camodeca et al [ 43 ], in research in Italy with 2–6-year-olds, collapsed reinforcing and assisting into a “follower” role. They found high intercorrelations between most of the roles, suggesting that these were not well distinguished.…”

The links between students’ relationships with teachers, likeability among peers, and bullying victimization: the intervening role of teacher responsiveness

“…Previous studies also found that the quality of the student-teacher relationship may play a crucial role in reducing the risk of victimization by bullies (Camodeca and Coppola 2019;Iotti et al 2020;Author et al 2018a, b). According to the attachment perspective on studentteacher relationships (Pianta 1999), teachers represent a "secure base" that may provide positive relational models, characterized by closeness and support.…”

Opinions of Pre-School Teachers on Applications Supporting Children's Emotion Regulation Skills

“…Okul öncesi öğretmenleri ile çocukların duygu düzenleme becerileri hakkında yapılan çalışmalara bakıldığında ilişkisel tarama modeli çalışmalarına daha çok rastlanılmaktadır. Bu çalışmaların bulgularında öğretmen-öğrenci etkileşiminin çocuğun duygu düzenleme becerisi ile birlikte akademik başarısına (Garner ve Waajid, 2008), duygusal davranışlarına (Zinsser, Bailey, Curby, Denham ve Bassett, 2013), akran zorbalığına (Camodeca ve Coppola, 2019), problemli davranışlarına (Sutherland vd., 2018) etkisi olduğu görülmektedir.…”