Depressive, Anxious, and Somatic Symptoms and Teacher-Child Relationship Quality in Early Childhood

• Author / Creator

  Zatto, Brenna

• Internalizing symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and somatization, are among the most common mental health concerns of young children. Yet the different patterns of change in depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms across early childhood remain underexamined. While children who experience more frequent internalizing symptoms tend to also experience more negative relationships with their teachers, how children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms are associated with dimensions of teacher-child relationship quality (closeness, dependency, conflict) in early childhood has received limited attention. The current study examined patterns of change in children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms and in dimensions of teacher-child relationship quality (closeness, dependency, conflict) across preschool and kindergarten. The current study further investigated four conceptual models of the concurrent and prospective associations between children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms and teacher-child relationship quality: concurrent, child-driven, relationship-driven, and transactional models. Participants were 443 ethnically diverse children (47.9% girls; Mage = 4.08 years, SD = .34 years) who were assessed four times, in the fall and spring of preschool and kindergarten. Children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms and teacher-child relationship quality were assessed by teacher reports. Results indicated that children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms were primarily related to the concurrent, but not prospective, quality of teacher-child relationships, in support of the concurrent model. Children who showed more frequent symptoms of depression and anxiety experienced less closeness and more dependency and conflict in their relationship with teachers across preschool and kindergarten. Findings suggest that teachers may respond negatively to children’s depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms while children may become more sad or anxious when teachers perceive them to be overly dependent, needy, or difficult to work with.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • internalizing symptoms
  • preschool
  • teacher-child relationship quality
  • kindergarten

• Graduation date

  Fall 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3RR1Q32N

• License

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