TY - JOUR
T1 - The Role of Classroom-Level Child Behavior Problems in Predicting Preschool Teacher Stress and Classroom Emotional Climate
AU - Friedman-Krauss, Allison Hope
AU - Raver, C. Cybele
AU - Morris, Pamela A.
AU - Jones, Stephanie M.
N1 - Funding Information:
The project described was supported by Award No. R01HD046160 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The first author’s role in the research reported here was also supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant No. R305B080019 to New York University. We also thank MDRC for the use of the FOL data. The opinions expressed are our own and do not represent views of the Institute of Education Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institutes of Health, or MDRC.
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - Research Findings: Despite the abundance of research suggesting that preschool classroom quality influences children's social-emotional development, the equally important and related question of how characteristics of children enrolled in a classroom influence classroom quality has rarely been addressed. The current article focuses on this question while also considering teacher stress as a mediator of the relationship between child behavior problems and classroom emotional climate. Data came from 2 low-income samples. Ordinary least squares regression revealed that higher levels of child externalizing behavior problems in the fall predicted higher teacher stress in the spring. Teacher stress was nonlinearly related to classroom emotional climate in the spring: Moderate levels of teacher stress were associated with higher (i.e., more positive) classroom emotional climates, and low and high levels of teacher stress were associated with lower classroom emotional climates. Contrary to expectations, higher levels of child externalizing behavior problems were related to higher classroom emotional climates. There was no evidence that teacher stress mediated this relationship. Practice or Policy: These results are discussed in terms of strategies to reduce the disruptive influence of child behavior problems on the classroom emotional climate as well as strategies to limit high levels of preschool teacher stress.
AB - Research Findings: Despite the abundance of research suggesting that preschool classroom quality influences children's social-emotional development, the equally important and related question of how characteristics of children enrolled in a classroom influence classroom quality has rarely been addressed. The current article focuses on this question while also considering teacher stress as a mediator of the relationship between child behavior problems and classroom emotional climate. Data came from 2 low-income samples. Ordinary least squares regression revealed that higher levels of child externalizing behavior problems in the fall predicted higher teacher stress in the spring. Teacher stress was nonlinearly related to classroom emotional climate in the spring: Moderate levels of teacher stress were associated with higher (i.e., more positive) classroom emotional climates, and low and high levels of teacher stress were associated with lower classroom emotional climates. Contrary to expectations, higher levels of child externalizing behavior problems were related to higher classroom emotional climates. There was no evidence that teacher stress mediated this relationship. Practice or Policy: These results are discussed in terms of strategies to reduce the disruptive influence of child behavior problems on the classroom emotional climate as well as strategies to limit high levels of preschool teacher stress.
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U2 - 10.1080/10409289.2013.817030
DO - 10.1080/10409289.2013.817030
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84897041427
VL - 25
SP - 530
EP - 552
JO - Early Education and Development
JF - Early Education and Development
SN - 1040-9289
IS - 4
ER -