Teachers’ consistency of emotional support moderates the association between young children's regulation capacities and their preschool adjustment

• Published in: Psychology in the schools Vol. 59; no. 6; pp. 1051 - 1074
• Main Authors: Bailey, Craig S., Ondrusek, Ashlin R., Curby, Timothy W., Denham, Susanne A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley 01.06.2022; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adjustment; Affective Behavior; Attachment theory; Averages; Caregivers; Children & youth; Classroom Techniques; Classrooms; consistency of emotional support; Correlation; emotion regulation; Emotional Adjustment; Emotional regulation; Emotional support; Emotional well being; Emotions; executive control; Federal Programs; Low Income Students; Measures (Individuals); preschool; preschool adjustment; Preschool Children; Preschool Education; Preschool Teachers; Responsiveness; Self Control; Social Adjustment; Social support; Structural Equation Models; Student Adjustment; Student Evaluation; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Student Relationship; Teachers; emotion regulation; executive control; preschool; emotional support; preschool adjustment; consistency of emotional support
• ISSN: 0033-3085; 1520-6807
• DOI: 10.1002/pits.22659

Preschool teachers’ consistency of warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions with children may be more important than average levels and may moderate the association between children's cognitive and emotion regulation and their preschool adjustment. A sample of 312 boys and girls aged 32–68 months in 44 classrooms at 16 privately‐funded centers and Head Starts completed assessments of emotion and cognitive regulation and were rated by their teachers using measures of social‐emotional functioning. Teacher–child interactions were rated for emotional support. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously explore three aspects of preschool adjustment. Children who were the least regulated were more adjusted to preschool in classrooms where teachers were more consistent in their emotional support, over and above mean emotional support and after controlling for child‐ and preschool‐level covariates. Consistency matters for children's preschool adjustment perhaps even more so than average levels of emotional support. Key Points Consistency is a pillar of attachment theory: when children have caregivers who are consistent in their warmth, sensitivity, and responsiveness, they are more likely to trust others and feel supported in their exploration of the world. Children who were the least regulated were more adjusted to preschool in classrooms where teachers were consistent in their warmth, sensitivity, and responsiveness over and above average levels of emotional support.