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The influence of child maltreatment on teacher-student and peer relationships: The mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression

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Abstract

Child maltreatment has been an issue of concern worldwide. This study aims to explore the relationship between child maltreatment and children’s teacher-student relationships/peer relationships and the mechanisms of the relationship. Data were collected at two intervals of 12 months from 1,037 school-aged children (M = 9.57, SD = 0.65). This study divided child maltreatment into emotional and physical maltreatment. Both types of maltreatment were negatively associated with children’s teacher-student and peer relationships. After controlling for demographic variables, both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression fully mediated the effects of emotional maltreatment on both types of interpersonal relationships. In addition, expressive suppression also partially mediated between physical maltreatment and teacher-student relationships, and fully mediated between physical maltreatment and peer relationships. The current study provides an understanding of how different types of child maltreatment affect children’s relationships. This study also provides timely and necessary research to prevent and intervene in the harm that maltreatment causes to children.

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Data Availability

The dataset analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Open Research Fund of College of Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Parent Education Research Center in Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China (No. jykf22044). We are appreciative of the parents, children, and teachers who participated in our study and the people who assisted in data collection.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Parent Education Research Center in Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, 321004, China

    Xiaoyue Wang, Wan Ding, Ruibo Xie, Wei Wu, Min Jiang, Sumaira Kayani & Weijian Li

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  1. Xiaoyue Wang
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Correspondence to Wan Ding or Ruibo Xie.

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Wang, X., Ding, W., Xie, R. et al. The influence of child maltreatment on teacher-student and peer relationships: The mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Curr Psychol 41, 8312–8321 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03268-8

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