How does Conditional Regard Impact Well-being and Eagerness to Learn? An Experimental Study.

Conditional regard refers to regard dependent upon the receiver's fulfillment of certain expectations. Using an experimental design, we examined the effect of conditional negative and positive regard on well-being and eagerness to learn in university freshmen (N = 131). Participants experienced either failure or success followed by conditional vs. unconditional regard. As expected, success and failure had opposite effects on well-being and eagerness to learn. More importantly, there was an increase in positive affect following success in the context of conditional regard, but not in the context of unconditional regard. Additionally, the decrease in positive affect following failure was more pronounced when accompanied by conditional as compared to unconditional regard. Conditional regard thus magnified the impact of success versus failure on students' emotional experiences.

The role of teacher behavior in children's relational aggression development: A five-wave longitudinal study.

The present article examined the development of relational aggression in middle childhood and the effects of observed teacher behavior on this development. Relying on social learning theory, we expected that teacher praise would slow down the increase of relational aggression, whereas teacher reprimands would promote the increase of relational aggression. A sample of 570 children (49% boys, Mage=7years and 5months, >95% Belgian) was followed from second to fourth grade. Teacher praise and reprimands were observed at the beginning of second grade. Child relational aggression was assessed using teacher and peer reports, collected at five points in time: at the beginning and end of the second grade, at the beginning and end of the third grade, and at the end of the fourth grade. Multilevel modeling showed that relational aggression generally increased from second to fourth grade. Moreover, when teachers displayed more praise, students' relational aggression increased at a slower rate; when teachers displayed more reprimands, students' relational aggression increased at a faster rate. Overall, the results stress the importance of supporting teachers to reduce reprimands and increase praise when interacting with children.

The role of preschool teacher-child interactions in academic adjustment: An intervention study with Playing-2-gether.

BACKGROUND: Social relationships can serve as important risk or protective factors for child development in general, and academic adjustment in particular. AIMS: This study investigated the role of teacher-child interactions in academic adjustment among preschool boys at risk of externalizing behaviour, using a randomized controlled trial study with Playing-2-gether (P2G), a 12-week indicated two-component intervention aimed at improving the affective quality of the teacher-child relationship and teacher behaviour management. SAMPLE: In a sample of 175 preschool boys showing signs of externalizing behaviour (Mage  = 4 years, 9 months, SDage  = 7 months) and their teachers, we investigated P2G effects on academic engagement as well as on language achievement. METHODS: Academic engagement was rated by teachers at three occasions within one school year (T1 = pretest, T3 = post-test, and T2 = in-between intervention components). Language achievement was assessed by researchers at pre- and post-test, using a standardized test. RESULTS: Cross-lagged path analyses revealed a direct intervention effect of P2G on academic engagement at Time 2. In addition, a significant indirect intervention effect was found on academic engagement at Time 3 through academic engagement at Time 2. Finally, academic engagement at Time 2 was found to predict language achievement at post-test. A marginally significant indirect intervention effect was found on language achievement at Time 3, through academic engagement at Time 2. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention study suggests that teacher-child interactions predict academic engagement over time, which in turn improves language achievement among preschool boys at risk of externalizing behaviour.

Priority to End of Life Treatments? Views of the Public in the Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES: Recent debates in the Netherlands on health care priority setting have focused on the relative value of gains generated by life-extending medicines for people with a terminal illness, mostly new cancer drugs. These treatments are generally expensive, provide relatively small health gains, and therefore usually do not meet common cost per QALY thresholds. Nevertheless, these drugs may be provided under the assumption that there is public support for making a special case for treatments for people with a terminal illness. This study investigated the views of the public in the Netherlands on a range of equity and efficiency considerations relevant to priority setting and examines whether there is public support for making such a special case. METHODS: Using Q methodology, three viewpoints on important principles for priority setting were identified. Data were collected through ranking exercises conducted by 46 members of the general public in the Netherlands, including 11 respondents with personal experience with cancer. RESULTS: Viewpoint 1 emphasized that people have equal rights to healthcare and opposed priority setting on any ground. Viewpoint 2 emphasized that the care for terminal patients should at all times respect the patients' quality of life, which sometimes means refraining from invasive treatments. Viewpoint 3 had a strong focus on effective and efficient care and had no moral objection against priority setting under certain circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found little public support for the assumption that health gains in terminally ill patients are more valuable than those in other patients. This implies that the assumption that society is prepared to pay more for health gains in people who have only a short period of lifetime left does not correspond with societal preferences in the Netherlands.

The Pursuit of Self-Esteem and Its Motivational Implications.

Although recent studies have found contingent self-esteem (CSE) to be negatively related to individuals' well-being, research concerning its implications for motivation and engagement is scarce. In two studies, we investigated the relation between CSE, motivation, and engagement in achievement-related situations. A first cross-sectional study among second year high school students (N = 641; 54.1% female) confirmed the hypothesized motivational ambiguity associated with academic CSE. Beyond the contribution of academic self-esteem, academic CSE was positively related to behavioral and emotional engagement, but also to emotional disaffection and test anxiety. These associations could partially be explained by motivational quality, as CSE was also positively related to both autonomous and controlled types of motivation. In a second experimental study among university students (N = 72; 70.8% female), who participated in a tangram puzzle task under varying feedback circumstances, global CSE related to more tension, while predicting less behavioral task perseverance. These effects were not moderated by the type of feedback provided (i.e., positive vs. negative). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Improving teacher-child relationship quality and teacher-rated behavioral adjustment amongst externalizing preschoolers: effects of a two-component intervention.

The school-based Playing-2-gether is a 12-week intervention with two components aimed at decreasing child externalizing behavior through improving teacher-child interactions. The first component is rooted in attachment theory and aimed at enhancing teacher-child relationship quality, and the second is based on learning theory and aimed at improving teachers' behavior management. In this three-wave randomized study, effects of Playing-2-gether on the teacher-child relationship quality and on teacher-rated child behavioral adjustment were investigated. To this aim, 175 dyads consisting of male preschoolers with relatively high levels of externalizing problem behavior and their teachers were randomly assigned to Playing-2-gether (n = 89) or an education-as-usual control condition (n = 86). Teacher-rated questionnaires were collected at pre-test, after the first intervention component, and at post-test. At post-test, the intervention group showed a larger decrease in teacher-child conflict, child conduct problems, and child hyperactivity/inattention. Supplementary analyses showed that all positive effects were already visible after the first intervention component and that teacher-child conflict, child conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention did not further reduce during the second component. In addition, an increase in closeness was found following the first component, but subsequently disappeared at post-test.

Teacher and observer views on student-teacher relationships: convergence across kindergarten and relations with student engagement.

Most studies regarding the role of teacher-child relationships for children's early school adjustment use only teacher ratings of relationship quality. The current study examines (a) the agreement between teacher and observer ratings, (b) whether similar patterns of relations with behavioral engagement are obtained across informants, and (c) which informant matters the most in the prediction of engagement. Teacher and observer ratings of teacher-child closeness, conflict, and dependency were gathered for a sample of 148 kindergartners and their teachers at three measurement occasions. Teacher and observer reports converged to a moderate degree but only when considering multiple occasions and ruling out occasion-specific variance. Although some relations with behavioral engagement were similar, only teacher ratings had unique, added value in this prediction.

Academic self-concept in high school: predictors and effects on adjustment in higher education.

Academic self-concept is considered a relevant psychological construct influencing many educational outcomes directly or indirectly. Therefore, the major focus of the current study is on the predictors and effects of academic self-concept in late adolescence. First, we studied the simultaneous effects of individual, class-average and school-average achievement (i.e., assessed by school grades) on academic self-concept in the final year of high school, thereby replicating and extending previous research on the big-fish-little-pond effect model. Second, the predictive value of high school academic self-concept for academic adjustment and success in the first year of higher education was examined. The sample comprised 536 twelfth grade students (44% boys) recruited from 24 schools (67 classes) that were representative with regard to geographical region and educational network in Flanders. Structural equation modeling showed that, when examining the joint contribution of school- and class-average achievement, only class-average achievement was significantly and negatively associated with academic self-concept. Furthermore, a significant effect of academic self-concept in high school on academic adjustment and success in higher education (in addition to any effects of high school academic achievement) was found. These results highlight the importance of considering academic self-concept in educational research and policy.