Antisocial behaviour and teacher–student relationship quality: The role of emotion‐related abilities and callous–unemotional traits

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Wilkinson, Hannah R and Jones Bartoli, Alice. 2021. Antisocial behaviour and teacher–student relationship quality: The role of emotion‐related abilities and callous–unemotional traits. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), pp. 482-499. ISSN 0007-0998 [Article]

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12376

Abstract or Description

Background: Childhood antisocial behaviour has been associated with poorer teacher-student relationship (TSR) quality. It is also well-established that youth with antisocial behaviour have a range of emotion-related deficits, yet the impact of these students’ emotion-related abilities on the TSR is not understood. Furthermore, the addition of the Limited Prosocial Emotions specifier in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) indicates that understanding the role of callous-unemotional (CU) traits for youth with antisocial behaviour problems is of particular importance.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between antisocial behaviour difficulties and the TSR by examining the influence of emotion-related abilities and CU traits.

Sample: Twelve teachers from 10 primary schools provided anonymised information on 108 children aged 6-11 years.

Results: Antisocial behaviour was associated with higher teacher-student conflict (but not closeness) as well as higher emotion lability/negativity and lower emotion understanding/empathy. Emotion lability/negativity was associated with higher teacher-student conflict (but not closeness), and emotion understanding/empathy was associated with lower teacher-student conflict and higher closeness. CU traits was associated with higher teacher-student conflict and lower teacher-student closeness (controlling for antisocial behaviour more broadly). We found no evidence of a moderating effect of CU traits or emotion-related abilities on the association between antisocial behaviour and TSR quality.

Conclusions: Interventions for behaviour difficulties should consider teacher-student relationships in the classroom. Strategies which aim to improve teacher-student closeness as well as reduce teacher-student conflict may be of particular value to students with high CU traits.

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Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12376