Mental health problems moderate the association between teacher violence and children’s social status in East Africa: A multi-informant study combining self- and peer-reports
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Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Abstract
School victimization has been negatively associated with children’s social status. However, previous studies have primarily focused on peer
victimization, leaving a significant knowledge gap regarding violence by teachers.We hypothesized that, when almost all children experience
violence by teachers, not only the experience of violence, but also other factors, for example, mental health problems, may influence children’s
social preference and centrality.We therefore examined potential moderation effects of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems.
We implemented a multistage cluster randomized sampling approach to randomly chose fifth- and sixth-grade students from primary
schools throughout Tanzania. Using a multi-informant approach, data were collected from 643 children (51.0% girls, Mage = 12.79 years).
Results showed inconsistent direct associations between teacher violence and social status, whereas mental health problems were consistently
associated with lower social status. Significant interaction effects were found for internalizing problems; that is, teacher violence was associated
with lower social status for increasing internalizing problems. However, no interaction effects were found for externalizing problems.
The findings underline the burden of exposure to violence by teachers and the importance of mental health for children’s social functioning.
Knowledge about interrelations can be applied in interventions to effectively reduce violence by teachers toward students.
Description
Keywords
externalizing problems, internalizing problems, peer reports, school violence, social status
Citation
Hecker, T. et al. (2021) ‘Mental health problems moderate the association between teacher violence and children’s social status in East Africa: A multi-informant study combining self- and peer-reports Tobias’, Development and Psychopathology, pp. 1–10. doi: 10.1017/S095457942000228X.