School adjustment for preschool children: untangling the contributions of teacher and child social skills

Acar I. H., Girgin Aksu I., BURAK Y., Özdemir E.

Early Child Development and Care, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/03004430.2026.2662311
  • Dergi Adı: Early Child Development and Care
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, Education Abstracts, Educational research abstracts (ERA), ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: early childhood, peer interactions, prosocial behaviour, School adjustment, teacher aggression
  • Trakya Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study examined child- and teacher-level social factors associated with preschool children’s school adjustment within the Turkish early childhood education context. Participants were 294 preschool children (M = 67.88 months, SD = 10.57; 51.7% girls) and their teachers (n = 19) from Ankara, Türkiye. Teachers reported on children’s prosocial behaviour and their own prosocial behaviour and aggression, while peer relational experiences were assessed via sociometric interviews. Using multilevel modelling to account for children nested within classrooms, results indicated that children’s prosocial behaviour was positively associated with school adjustment, whereas peer rejection and teacher aggression were negatively associated. The teacher's prosocial behaviour was not a significant predictor of children’s school adjustment. These findings underscore the salience of negative social experiences in shaping school adjustment and highlight the importance of emotionally supportive classroom environments in Turkish early childhood settings.