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Mental health problems moderate the association between teacher violence and children's social status in East Africa: A multi-informant study combining self- and peer-reports

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2021

Tobias Hecker Open the ORCID record for Tobias Hecker [Opens in a new window] ,
Lars Dumke ,
Frank Neuner  and
Faustine B. Masath
Tobias Hecker*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
Lars Dumke
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
Frank Neuner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
Faustine B. Masath
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany Department of Educational Psychology and Curriculum Studies, Dar es Salaam University College of Education, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
*
Author for Correspondence: Tobias Hecker, Department of Psychology, Bielefeld University, Postbox 100131, 33501Bielefeld, Germany; E-mail: tobias.hecker@uni-bielefeld.de.
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Abstract

School victimization has been negatively associated with children's social status. However, previous studies have primarily focused on peer victimization, leaving a significant knowledge gap regarding violence by teachers. We hypothesized that, when almost all children experience violence by teachers, not only the experience of violence, but also other factors, for example, mental health problems, may influence children's social preference and centrality. We therefore examined potential moderation effects of children's internalizing and externalizing problems. We implemented a multistage cluster randomized sampling approach to randomly chose fifth- and sixth-grade students from primary schools throughout Tanzania. Using a multi-informant approach, data were collected from 643 children (51.0% girls, Mage = 12.79 years). Results showed inconsistent direct associations between teacher violence and social status, whereas mental health problems were consistently associated with lower social status. Significant interaction effects were found for internalizing problems; that is, teacher violence was associated with lower social status for increasing internalizing problems. However, no interaction effects were found for externalizing problems. The findings underline the burden of exposure to violence by teachers and the importance of mental health for children's social functioning. Knowledge about interrelations can be applied in interventions to effectively reduce violence by teachers toward students.

Keywords

externalizing problemsinternalizing problemspeer reportsschool violencesocial status
Type
Regular Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 2022 , pp. 1329 - 1338
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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