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Help Me If You Can I’m Feeling Down: Supporting Children’s Emotion Regulation and Well-Being in the Primary Classroom

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


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Authors

Somerville, Matthew P  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3460-4369
Midouhas, Emily 
Delprato, Marcos 
Whitebread, David 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title>jats:pChildren living in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities face distinct stressors when compared to those from more advantaged backgrounds. Research indicates higher levels of child well-being may buffer against the negative effects of stress and adversities, with supportive teacher behaviors playing a key role in promoting well-being. However, the mechanisms underlying these connections remain unclear. Extending past research linking teacher behaviours and well-being, the present study included emotion regulation as a potential candidate mechanism that might account for these connections. Questionnaire data were collected from 508 pupils (265 female, jats:italicM</jats:italic>jats:subage</jats:sub> = 9.9) in 31 classrooms across 8 primary schools in low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods of New Zealand. Utilising multilevel modelling the study found that teacher support significantly predicted emotion regulation and well-being, and that teacher support indirectly predicted well-being through emotion regulation. Both emotion regulation and teacher behaviours are amenable to intervention; thus, a better understanding of how they work together to predict well-being is likely to inform future intervention efforts to promote children’s well-being.</jats:p>

Description

Acknowledgements: We are indebted to the school staff, families, and pupils who welcomed us into their communities and classrooms to share a few weeks in their lives. We also thank the Māori and Pasifika community leaders and advisors for their valuable input into the design of this study.


Funder: Cambridge Trust; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003343

Keywords

39 Education, 3904 Specialist Studies In Education, 52 Psychology, Behavioral and Social Science

Journal Title

School Mental Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1866-2625
1866-2633

Volume Title

16

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC