The Student-Teacher Relationship Quality of Abused Children.

ABSTRACT

Considering the association between children's quality of relationships with teachers and their academic adjustment, information pertaining to how abused children are functioning in their relationships with teachers could be useful in promoting their academic success- yet there has been limited research in this area. The purpose of this study was to use cluster analyses to explore within-group differences in relational schemas and quality of student-teacher relationships for 70 abused children. Two clusters of abused children emerged, and as hypothesized, there were significant differences in student-teacher relationships for the two clusters. The cluster with more positive relational schemas had less conflict and less dependency reported by their teachers compared to the cluster with negative relational schemas. However, there were no differences between the clusters in terms of closeness with teachers. Implications for practice in schools is discussed.