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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1551081
This article is part of the Research Topic The Interface Between Social Psychology and Educational Psychology: Interactional Phenomena in Educational Settings View all articles

The Impact of Teacher Care on Teacher-Student Relationship: Evidence from Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Data

Provisionally accepted

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Based on a sample of middle school students from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) database, this study explores the relationship between parental perceived teacher care and teacher-student relationship and the role of teacher gender in it through cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Study 1 found that there was a significant positive correlation between teacher gender, parental perceived teacher care and teacher-student relationship. Analysis of simple moderation effects suggests that teacher gender plays a moderating role in the relationship between parental perceived teacher care and teacher-student relationships. Subsequent simple slope analysis indicates that the influence of female teacher care on teacher-student relationship is notably stronger than that of male teacher care. Study 2 Descriptive statistical results indicated that during the seventh and eighth grades of Chinese middle school students, the level of teacher care showed a slight decrease, and teacher-student relationship showed a decreasing trend. Correlational results demonstrated a significant positive correlation between parental perceived teacher care and teacher-student relationship at both time points. Further analysis using cross-lagged models revealed that teacher care significantly positively predicted subsequent teacher-student relationship, and teacher-student relationship significantly positively predicted subsequent teacher care. This bidirectional predictive relationship did not have the moderation of teacher gender. Based on these findings, educators should strengthen the communication and cooperation between parents and teachers, and create a benign educational atmosphere for student interaction in school and family.

    Keywords: teacher care, teacher-student relationship, teacher gender, Cross-sectional, Longitudinal

    Received: 24 Dec 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, 邓, Ling and Qi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Chunhui Qi, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, China

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