Teacher-child relationships and friendships and peer victimization across the school year

Marina Serdiouk, Daniel Berry, Scott D. Gest

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using data from 1700 1st, 3rd, and 5th grade students followed longitudinally across the school year, we tested the extent to which time-specific, within-person shifts in peer victimization and children's overall victimization trajectories were predicted by the quality of their relationships with their teacher and their friendship status. We found that both teacher-child relationships and friendships were uniquely associated with children's levels of victimization over time, but the magnitude (and direction) of the effects varied depending on whether within- or between-person differences in victimization were considered. Children who evinced more positive teacher-child relationships (on average) reported lower levels of victimization. This relation did not vary over time. Similarly, children with a greater number of friends tended to be victimized less–again, irrespective of time. In contrast, within-person increases in teacher-child relationship quality in early fall were associated with contemporaneous increases in victimization. No within-person effects of friendship were evident.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)63-72
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Applied Developmental Psychology
Volume46
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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