Predicting the development of dependency on the teacher in late childhood: The role of peer victimization and peer beliefs

Evidence indicates that being overly dependent on the teacher places children's academic and socioemotional development at risk. However, little is known about what predicts dependency on the teacher or how the quality of interactions occurring within the classroom peer system may impact how children relate to their teacher the following school year. The current study tested the proposition that peer victimization may result in negative perceptions of classmates (i.e., peer beliefs), leading to overreliance on teachers. Data were collected from 365 children in the fall and spring of their third/fourth grade year and the fall of their fourth/fifth grade year (195 girls; M_age = 8.92 years; 86.8% white). Peer-reports of peer victimization and self-reports of peer beliefs were collected at each wave of the study. Teacher-reports of dependency were collected in the fall of the first and second years of the study. Path analyses showed that for boys peer victimization directly predicted higher levels of dependency on the next year's teacher, and, for boys and girls, peer victimization indirectly predicted dependency through lower levels of prosocial peer beliefs. Supplemental analyses assessing teacher-child conflict and closeness confirmed that findings were unique to dependency. These results underscore how children's perceptions of their classmates may contribute to dependency in their relationships with teachers and highlight the need for further research into the transactional and cumulative impact of difficulties within peer and teacher relationships.     

Child and Youth Coaching in families experiencing complex and multiple problems: A longitudinal evaluation study

Studies investigating services for families experiencing complex and multiple problems have emphasized the need for more child-centred support. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate whether providing child-centred services (Child and Youth Coaching) combined with family-focused services (Ten for the Future) is effective for children growing up in families experiencing complex and multiple problems. Children's psychosocial skills, emotional and behavioural problems, and the quality of their pedagogical environment were measured at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Parent and coach reports of children indicated for Child and Youth Coaching (n = 57) and nonindicated children (n = 18) were analysed using repeated measures multilevel models. Both parents and coaches reported improved psychosocial skills of children, but changes were only significant for coach reports. In both reports, no significant decrease in emotional and behavioural problems was observed for both indicated and nonindicated children. Many children still experienced considerable problems at case closure. Furthermore, no significant improvement in quality of the pedagogical environment was observed in both groups. Given the limitations in this study, more research is needed to identify whether these findings can be replicated and attributed to the Child and Youth Coaching and Ten for the Future programmes.