Children's social information processing in ambiguous situations with teachers: A measure development study

摘要

Children's atypical processing of social behaviour of teachers may explain poor teacher-child relationships. To test this assumption, we developed the Social Information Processing in Teacher-child Interactions Test (SIP-TIT) and evaluated its psychometric properties. The SIP-TIT examines children's SIP in ambiguous situations with teachers asking children to respond to 4 audio-taped hypothetical vignettes. The sample consisted of 302 primary school children (M-age= 10.75, SD= 0.95) and 12 teachers. Children and teachers completed questionnaires on teacher-child relationships quality (closeness, conflict, and dependency) and teachers also rated child aggression. Scale reliability and construct validity were examined. Children's SIP and in particular hostile intent attribution were associated with child perceptions of poor teacher-child relationships. Hostile intent attribution and Rejection of prosocial response were associated with more aggression.