Parent-child and teacher-child relationships: The role of the child

Pennsylvania State University, The, University Park PA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract Some of the most influential relationships children have are with their parents and their teachers. Yet, much of the literature has considered family and teacher relationships as separate and have not examined the joint effects of the two in a substantive way. Fewer still have considered the possible role of heritable characteristics of the child in helping to shape the child's relationships within the family and with teachers, although children's emotionality has been shown to influence their relationship with their parents and their teachers. Parent- child relationships have been shown to be influenced by heritable factors in children, and there is a growing body of literature showing how child heritable influences may also impact their teachers, with a small subset of that research focusing on teacher-child interactions and only one that has considered links between the two contexts. The main research question of this proposal is to examine the mechanisms by which children's emotionality impacts their relationships with parents and teachers. This proposal will use a genetically-informative parent-offspring adoption design to examine the following three aims: (1) examine how children's emotionality may impact their relationships with their parents and later adjustment, and consider the role of gene-environment interplay, (2) examine how children's emotionality may impact their relationships with their teachers and their later adjustment, using a gene-environment interplay framework, and (3) examine how genetic influences on child emotionality may influence their relationships with their parents and with their teachers. Advanced longitudinal analytic strategies will be used including Structural Equation Modeling to achieve the study aims. Elucidating the mechanisms by which family and teacher relationships influence the emotionality and later adjustment of the child could potentially assist prevention and intervention programs to effectively target aspects of these contexts. By addressing each of the above research aims, I will refine a conceptual model using a behavioral genetic framework integrating the family, classroom, and children's emotionality. To better prepare myself for my career conducting longitudinal research examining gene-environment interplay and child emotionality in the family and classroom context, I am seeking additional training to: (1) gain expertise in developmental behavioral and molecular genetics, (2) hone my advanced developmental methods skills, (3) develop an integrated model of family, classroom, and child emotion development that includes gene-environment interplay, (4) strengthen my manuscript and grant writing skills, and (5) responsibly conduct research in a research area new to me, behavioral and molecular genetics. My career goal is to conduct interdisciplinary research with the objective of understanding children's emotion development and on the evocative effects of children on their parents and teachers. This dissertation research will lay the foundation for a career-long research program investigating child driven effects and gene-environment interplay.