Although childhood shyness has been associated with school-adjustment difficulties in contemporary research in China, the conceptual mechanisms that may underlie these relations remain underinvestigated. The goal of this study was to examine a complex theoretical model that explicates the roles of both peer preference and teacher-child…

Ninety-three fourth and fifth-grade students were observed once weekly for one semester during reading and writing instruction. A structured observational protocol was used to record information about instruction and feedback provided to these students by their teachers, as well as the students' participation, regulation, and self-instruction…

Background: School-entry characteristics predict adult educational attainment, which forecasts dispositions toward disease prevention. Health and education risks can also be transmitted from one generation to the next. As such, school readiness forecasts a set of intertwined biopsychosocial trajectories that can influence the developmental…

A study was designed to examine a multidimensional measure of children's coping in the academic domain as part of a larger model of motivational resilience. Using items tapping multiple ways of dealing with academic problems, including five adaptive ways (strategizing, help-seeking, comfort-seeking, self-encouragement, and commitment) and six…

The often observed decline in students' self-perceptions across transition to secondary school after grade 6 is often attributed to students' entry to puberty. This study aims to examine whether lowered self-perceptions can be observed after transition in Germany which occurs after grade 4 and thus takes place before puberty. Fifth graders (N =…

This study examined associations among children's agentic (social influence, status, power) and communal (relationship, affiliation) goals for peer interaction, cognitive and affective responses to hypothetical peer conflict, and teacher-reported achievement and behavior at school ("N" = 367; "M" age = 9.9 years). Agentic goals…

Although parents' relationships with teachers are considered to be an important aspect of parental school involvement, few studies have examined their implications for students' school adjustment. The present study provided further insight into the relevance of teachers' perceptions of the parent-teacher relationship by examining their link to…

A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio-ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self-report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968…

This study examined social support processes in the context of positive events. The conversations of fourth-grade through sixth-grade focal children and their friends (N = 116) were observed after focal children outperformed their friend on an achievement-related task. Changes in focal children's performance-related positive affect from…

Although positive peer relationships have been shown to promote healthy school involvement and academic achievement, subpopulations of perceived popular (i.e., socially prominent, high status), but aggressive, youth have been identified who exhibit poor school functioning. The objective of this study was to examine whether attainment of perceived…

Resilience is a very useful construct for framing school mental health services to children and is particularly applicable to mental health services in school settings. Still, resilience perspectives should not be overgeneralized to school mental health practice because risk and resilience wax and wane over time and daily decisions about students'…

The purpose of this study was to examine how shyness-sensitivity and unsociability were associated with social, school, and psychological adjustment in rural Chinese children. Participants were third- to fifth-grade students (N = 820; M age = 10 years) in rural schools in P. R. China. Data on shyness-sensitivity, unsociability, and adjustment were…

The current study examined peer victimization trajectories for 1528 children from third to fifth grade and the association of those trajectories to children's positive and negative affect. On average, victimization was low to moderate and remained stable (self-report) or increased (peer-reports). In addition, five distinct trajectories were…

Peer aggression in children is a serious issue that school psychologists often encounter on a daily basis. To develop a better understanding of aggression, it is important to look at specific subtypes of aggression and how they are related to adjustment difficulties. Past research has examined the links between reactive and proactive physical…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relations among Taiwanese elementary school children's effortful control, social relationships and their adjustment at school. Data were gathered on 407 third- to sixth-grade children (81 third graders, 79 fourth graders, 116 fifth graders, and 131 sixth graders) attending three low- to…