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Callous-unemotional traits and child response to teacher rewards, discipline, and instructional methods in Chinese preschools: A classroom observation study

Cao, Xinyi; Somerville, Matthew; Shou, Yiyun; Xue, Zijing; Allen, Jennifer L; (2023) Callous-unemotional traits and child response to teacher rewards, discipline, and instructional methods in Chinese preschools: A classroom observation study. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology 10.1007/s10802-023-01137-x. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

Atypical responses to teacher rewards, discipline and different forms of instructional methods have been identified as potential contributors to disruptive behavior, low school engagement, and academic underachievement in children with elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. To date, research on CU traits in schools has relied on interview or questionnaire methods and has predominantly been conducted in Western countries. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the relationships between CU traits and children’s responses to teacher rewards, discipline and instructional methods in the Chinese preschool context using classroom observation. Eight teachers (7 females, 1 male; M = 37.66 years) and 116 children (56% girls; M = 5.16 years) from two mainstream Chinese preschools participated in the study. Of the 116 eligible children, the behavior of 108 children from four classes were observed during classroom activities. Findings indicated that CU traits were not related to children’s responses to discipline, nor did CU traits moderate the relationship between instructional methods and children’s academic engagement. Higher CU traits predicted a greater frequency of one-to-one teacher-child interaction. Our findings offer initial insights into the potential of early school-based interventions in fostering engagement and prosocial behavior among children with CU traits. However, they also highlight the need for additional support for preschool teachers, who face the challenge of managing these high-risk children who appear to require more individual time and attention.

Type: Article
Title: Callous-unemotional traits and child response to teacher rewards, discipline, and instructional methods in Chinese preschools: A classroom observation study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/s10802-023-01137-x
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-023-01137-x
Language: English
Additional information: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Callous-unemotional traits, Teacher-child interaction, Rewards, Discipline, Instructional methods, School engagement
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10179059
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