IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i20p13151-d940669.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cooperation with Teachers as a Mediator of the Relationship between Family Conflict and Children’s Psychological Difficulties

Author

Listed:
  • Marcella Caputi

    (Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via E. Weiss 21, 34128 Trieste, Italy)

  • Barbara Forresi

    (Child and Youth Lab, Sigmund Freud University of Milan, Via Ripa di Porta Ticinese 77, 20143 Milan, Italy)

  • Ludovica Giani

    (Child and Youth Lab, Sigmund Freud University of Milan, Via Ripa di Porta Ticinese 77, 20143 Milan, Italy)

  • Simona Scaini

    (Child and Youth Lab, Sigmund Freud University of Milan, Via Ripa di Porta Ticinese 77, 20143 Milan, Italy)

Abstract

Parent–child conflict can have a series of negative consequences concerning youth emotional and behavioral development. The link between family conflict and children’s externalizing symptoms is well established, whereas the association with internalizing symptoms is less explored. Within the school context, children are engaged in other meaningful relationships (i.e., with teachers and peers) which contribute to their growth. This cross-sectional study aimed at understanding whether a cooperative behavior with the teachers is able to mediate the association between parent–child conflict and children’s psychopathological symptoms. We recruited 319 (150 boys) school-aged children (M = 11.3 years; SD = 1.8 years) and their parents and teachers. Children self-reported on their internalizing symptoms, whereas parents completed a questionnaire concerning their relationship with the child, and teachers rated children’s behavior and internalizing/externalizing symptoms. Analyses conducted through Hayes’ PROCESS tool showed that cooperation with the teacher partially mediated the association between parent–child conflict and child-reported depressive symptoms. Notably, cooperative behavior fully mediated the link between parent–child conflict and children’s internalizing and externalizing symptoms reported by teachers. Difficulties exhibited at school partly derive from a conflictual home environment. Our findings showed that such problems can be reduced thanks to a cooperative relationship with the teacher.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcella Caputi & Barbara Forresi & Ludovica Giani & Simona Scaini, 2022. "Cooperation with Teachers as a Mediator of the Relationship between Family Conflict and Children’s Psychological Difficulties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13151-:d:940669
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13151/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/20/13151/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marcella Caputi & Barbara Forresi & Ludovica Giani & Giovanni Michelini & Simona Scaini, 2021. "Italian Children’s Well-Being after Lockdown: Predictors of Psychopathological Symptoms in Times of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-11, October.
    2. J Alberto Molina & J Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José A Cuesta & Carlos Gracia-Lazaro & Yamir Moreno & Angel Sanchez, 2013. "Gender Differences in Cooperation: Experimental Evidence on High School Students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Molina, José Alberto & Ferrer, Alfredo & Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Gracia-Lazaro, Carlos & Moreno, Yamir & Sanchez, Angel, 2016. "The Effect of Kinship on Intergenerational Cooperation: A Lab Experiment with Three Generations," IZA Discussion Papers 9842, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. José Molina, 2013. "Altruism in the household: in kind transfers in the context of kin selection," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 309-312, September.
    3. Modena, Francesca & Rettore, Enrico & Tanzi, Giulia Martina, 2022. "Asymmetries in the gender effect of high-performing peers: Evidence from tertiary education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Guilfoos, Todd & Kurtz, Kenneth J., 2017. "Evaluating the role of personality trait information in social dilemmas," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 119-129.
    5. Modena, Francesca & Rettore, Enrico & Tanzi, Giulia, 2021. "Does Gender Matter? The Effect of High Performing Peers on Academic Performances," IZA Discussion Papers 14806, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Annina Lattu & Yuzhuo Cai, 2023. "Institutional logics in the open science practices of university–industry research collaboration," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 50(5), pages 905-916.
    7. Alexander Ehlert & Robert Böhm & Jürgen Fleiß & Heiko Rauhut & Robert Rybnicek & Fabian Winter, 2021. "The Development of Prosociality: Evidence for a Negative Association between Age and Prosocial Value Orientation from a Representative Sample in Austria," Games, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, September.
    8. García, Lucia, 2018. "Inter-generational and intra-generational transfers: international evidence," MPRA Paper 83986, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Bellido, Héctor, 2020. "La transición del sistema educativo al mercado laboral en Europa: Efectos del abandono escolar en la incorporación al trabajo de los jóvenes europeos [The transition from the education system to th," MPRA Paper 103071, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Riccardo Pansini & Lei Shi & Rui-Wu Wang, 2016. "Women Tend to Defect in a Social Dilemma Game in Southwest China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-11, November.
    11. Ferrando-Latorre, Sandra, 2017. "Risky consumption and intergenerational mobility: a research program in a family context," MPRA Paper 79777, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Nikoleta E. Glynatsi & Vincent A. Knight, 2021. "A bibliometric study of research topics, collaboration, and centrality in the iterated prisoner’s dilemma," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Barbara Forresi & Ludovica Giani & Simona Scaini & Giampaolo Nicolais & Marcella Caputi, 2023. "The Mediation of Care and Overprotection between Parent-Adolescent Conflicts and Adolescents’ Psychological Difficulties during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Which Role for Fathers?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Boggio, Cecilia & Coda Moscarola, Flavia & Gallice, Andrea, 2020. "What is good for the goose is good for the gander?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. García, Lucia & Molina, José Alberto, 2017. "The household structure: recent international evolution," MPRA Paper 82049, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Isabel Cristina Panziera Marques & Mário Franco, 2020. "Cooperation networks in the area of health: systematic literature review," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1727-1750, March.
    17. Campaña, Juan Carlos, 2017. "¿Pueden llegar a ser adictivos los comportamientos juveniles sedentarios en el hogar? Un programa de investigación con respuestas conceptuales y evidencia empírica [Can sedentary youth behaviors be," MPRA Paper 81401, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. José Alberto Molina & Alfredo Ferrer & J. Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & Carlos Gracia-Lázaro & Yamir Moreno & Angel Sánchez, 2019. "Intergenerational cooperation within the household: a Public Good game with three generations," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 535-552, June.
    19. Kleinknecht, Janina, 2019. "A man of his word? An experiment on gender differences in promise keeping," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 251-268.
    20. Ibarra, Helena & Velilla, Jorge, 2021. "Oferta laboral familiar y negociación intrafamiliar en España: Un test del modelo colectivo [Household labor supply and intrahousehold bargaining: An empirical test of the collective model]," MPRA Paper 108080, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13151-:d:940669. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.