The Comparison of the Effects of Parent-Child and Teacher-Child Relationships on Chinese Preschoolers’ Social Emotional Abilities

Abstract

This study compared the effects of parent-child and teacher-child relationships on Chinese preschoolers’ social emotional abilities. Participants were 211 children from different preschools in a small city of Henan Province, China. Parents rated the parent-child relationships and children’s social emotional abilities at home and teachers rated the teacher–child relationships at school. After controlling for family socioeconomic status, the results showed parent-child relationship was a stronger predictor on preschool children’s social emotional abilities than was teacher-child relationship. Parent-child closeness positively predicted self-management, prosocial behavior and social skills and negatively predicted problem behavior. Parent-child conflict positively predicted problem behavior and negatively predicted self-management, prosocial behavior and social skills. While teacher-child relationships did not significantly predict children’s social emotional abilities. The findings highlight the importance of parent-child closeness in children’s early social emotional abilities.