Abstract:
The purpose of the present study is to examine parent and teacher influences on preschool children's emotion regulation, pre-academic and social skills. Parent-reported child behavior (i.e., effortful control and negative affectivity), parent-child relationship, and family emotion expressiveness were highly correlated with children's emotion regulation ability. Parents' reports of their parenting practices were also correlated with children's social skills. Teacher-reported teacher-child relationship was correlated with children's pre-academic and social skills. Teachers' reports of social skills were also correlated with children's pre-academic skills. In multiple regression analyses, children's behavior significantly predicted emotion regulation abilities. Parent-child relationship, family emotion expressiveness, and parenting practices did not predict children's emotion regulation abilities. Teacher-child relationship predicted children's teacher-reported pre-academic and social skills. Parents' reports of children's emotion regulation also predicted their pre-academic skills. However, parent-child relationship did not predict children's pre-academic skills or social skills. Results indicate that the development of child behavior characteristics (i.e., effortful control) contributes to children's development of emotion regulation. In turn, appropriate emotion regulation skills contribute to academic success. Results also indicate that teacher-child relationship quality may be an important factor of preschoolers' early academic and social competence due to children's reliance on teachers as a secure base of support as they explore, ask questions, and maintain greater involvement in classroom activities.
