Early Student-Teacher Relationships of Children With and Without Intellectual Disability: Contributions of Behavioral, Social, and Self-Regulatory Competence

We investigated the student-teacher relationships (STRs) of 6-year-old children with (n=58) and without (n=82) intellectual disability (ID). We also examined early (age 3) and concurrent (age 6) child behavioral, self-regulatory, and social characteristics as predictors of age 6 STR quality. Children with ID experienced significantly poorer relationships with their teachers, marked by less closeness and more conflict and dependency, compared to typically-developing children. This group difference was not accounted for entirely by IQ differences. The relation between ID status and STR quality was fully mediated by four age 6 child variables: mother- and teacher-reported behavior problems and mother- and teacher-reported social skills. The quality of children’s relationships with teachers was also predicted by child characteristics as early as age 3, including early behavior problems, self-regulation, and behavior during parent-child interactions. The relation of ID status to STR quality at age 6 was fully mediated by children’s self-regulatory abilities at age 3. Our findings demonstrate the importance of child behavioral and social characteristics in predicting relationships with teachers for children with and without ID. Keyword