Teachers' appraisal of children's school adjustment: its relationship to children's behavioral styles, self-esteem and parents' valuing styles

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between teachers' assessment of children's overall school adjustment and children's self-esteem, behavioral styles, and the valuing styles of parents. Subjects were 75 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade children from middle-class families in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area who were subjectively rated by teachers (n=8) as best adjusted (n=38) or least adjusted (n=37) in terms of overall psychosocial and academic functioning in the classroom. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory was used to measure children's self-esteem, Dimensions of Temperament Survey to measure their temperament, and Matthews Youth Test for Health to measure their Type A behavior pattern. The Little Parental Valuing Styles Scale was the instrument used to measure parents' self-reported valuing styles. One-factor multivariate analysis of variance was used to evaluate mean score differences for either best and least adjusted children, or their parents for each instrument. The best adjusted children were found to have higher self-esteem, were more rhythmic, less reactive, more competitive and less impatient-aggressive than least adjusted children. Parents of best adjusted children were more accepting and less overprotective and rejecting than parents of least adjusted children.