Exploring the Change Trajectory, Influencing Factors, and Differences in School Adaptation of Teacher-Child Conflict Relationships Using Growth Mixture Model

Objectives This study aimed to typify the longitudinal changes in teacher-child conflict relationships among elementary school students and to verify the impact of children's personal and parental factors on the classification of latent profiles in the trajectories of changes in teacher-child conflict relationships. Additionally, the study examined differences in school adaptation across types of teacher-child conflict relationships. Methods Utilizing data from the 9th to 13th waves (2nd to 6th grade in elementary school) of the Panel Study on Korean Children(PSKC), the study estimated a change function suitable for the changes in teacher-child conflict relationships and applied it to classify latent classes. A growth mixture model was used to identify the significance of related child, parental factors, and school adaptation. Results First, it was found that a first-order function model was suitable for the longitudinal changes in teacher-child conflict relationships, and three latent profiles (‘Decreasing’, ‘Maintaining’, ‘Increasing’) were identified based on this model. Upon verifying the influencing factors, compared to the ‘Maintaining’ group set as the reference group, externalized difficulties were significant in the ‘Increasing’ group, while parental interest in school life and externalized difficulties had a significant impact in the ‘Decreasing’ group. Furthermore, when the ‘Decreasing’ group was set as the reference group, externalized difficulties emerged as a significant influencing factor in comparison with the ‘Increasing’ group. In addition, there were overall differences in school adaptation among the three classified groups, with the ‘Maintaining’ group showing a higher level of school adaptation than the ‘Decreasing’ group. Conclusions Based on these results, the study discussed possible measures for improving the conflict relationships between teachers and children.