Effects of teacher-student relationships on peer harassment: A multilevel study

  1. Lucas-Molina, B. 4
  2. Williamson, A.A. 3
  3. Pulido, R. 2
  4. Pérez-Albéniz, A. 1
  1. 1 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

  2. 2 Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
    info

    Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02msb5n36

  3. 3 University of Delaware
    info

    University of Delaware

    Newark, Estados Unidos

    ROR https://ror.org/01sbq1a82

  4. 4 Universitat de València
    info

    Universitat de València

    Valencia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/043nxc105

Revista:
Psychology in the Schools

ISSN: 0033-3085

Año de publicación: 2015

Volumen: 52

Número: 3

Páginas: 298-315

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.1002/PITS.21822 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84922868046 WoS: WOS:000349302500006 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Otras publicaciones en: Psychology in the Schools

Objetivos de desarrollo sostenible

Resumen

Peer harassment is a major social problem affecting children and adolescents internationally. Much research has focused on student-to-student harassment from either an individual or a multilevel perspective. There is a paucity of multilevel research on students' relationships with the classroom teacher. The purpose of this study was to use a socioecological perspective to examine the relationships between individual student-level characteristics, problematic teacher-student relationships, and student-reported peer harassment. A total of 1,864 children (50.7% female) aged 8 to 13 years (M = 9.82, SD = 1.24), nested in 27 schools (58.2% public) in Spain, participated in the study. Ninety-four homeroom teachers reported on teacher-student relationships, and students completed self-report measures related to peer harassment and teacher-student relationships. Multilevel models showed that relationships between students and teachers exerted a varying degree of influence on classroom levels of peer harassment. Specifically, student-reported teacher support was associated with diminished student-reported peer victimization, whereas direct and indirect student-reported teacher-to-student aggression was associated with increased peer victimization. Additionally, student-reported student-to-teacher aggression and teacher-to-student aggression were associated with increased student-reported peer aggression. Teacher-reported variables at the classroom level, however, contributed little to student-reported outcomes. Results are discussed in the context of future research on relationships between teachers and students.