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The goal of the current study was to examine the complex links among anxious solitude, classroom climate, engagement, achievement, and gender. In particular, drawing upon the differential susceptibility hypothesis (Belsky, 1997), we investigated if children high in anxious solitude were particularly sensitive and responsive to the classroom environment. Participants were N = 712 children in Grade 3, drawn from the National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development data set. Classroom climate and engagement were assessed using the Classroom Observation Scale (NICHD, 1998). Teachers completed the Teacher Report Form (Achenbach, 1991) as a measure of anxious solitude and the Academic Rating Scale (NICHD, 2010) as a measure of achievement. Hypothesized associations among variables were tested by way of a moderated-mediation model. Among the results, engagement was found to mediate the relation between classroom climate and achievement. In addition, anxious solitude and gender were found to moderate the relation between classroom climate and engagement. Support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis was found, suggesting that children high in anxious solitude may be more reactive (both positively and negatively) to elements of the classroom environment. In addition, gender differences were observed, indicating that boys may be more responsive to the classroom environment as compared with girls. Implications for future research and educational policies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).)

Although childhood shyness has been associated with school-adjustment difficulties in contemporary research in China, the conceptual mechanisms that may underlie these relations remain underinvestigated. The goal of this study was to examine a complex theoretical model that explicates the roles of both peer preference and teacher-child relationships in the links between shyness and school adjustment in Chinese children. Participants were N = 1,275 3rd- through 7th-grade students (637 boys, 638 girls; Mage = 10.78 years, SD = 1.55) attending public primary and secondary schools in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Measures of shyness, peer preference, teacher-child relationships, and aspects of school adjustment were obtained from multiple source, including peer nominations, child self-reports, teacher ratings, and school records. Results from mediation and moderated mediation analyses demonstrated that (a) shyness indirectly predicted greater internalizing problems and poorer academic achievement through its negative association with peer preference and (b) these indirect effects were moderated by teacher-child relationships, such that the negative association between shyness and peer reference was attenuated among children with higher quality of teacher-child relationships. Results are discussed in terms of the roles of peers and teachers in the links between shyness and school adjustment and their educational implications. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

The goal of this study was to explore longitudinal associations between peer victimization and academic achievement in Chinese children. Participants were N = 805 3rd-grade students (486 boys, 319 girls; M(age) = 9.5 years, SD = 3 months) attending primary schools in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. At Time 1 and Time 2 (2 years later), peers nominated classmates who were victims of peer maltreatment using the Chinese version of the Revised Class Play (Chen, Rubin, & Sun, 1992), and teachers rated students' academic achievement. Among the results, peer victimization was negatively related to academic achievement at both time points. Also, peer victimization and academic achievement displayed considerable stability across the 2 years. Results from cross-lagged hierarchical analyses demonstrated that peer victimization at Grade 3 predicted lower academic achievement at Grade 5. However, academic achievement at Grade 3 was not predictive of peer victimization at Grade 5. These results suggest that peer victimization appears to function more as a precursor rather than a consequence of lower academic achievement. Results are discussed in terms of the cross-cultural similarities in the links between peer maltreatment and academic achievement and their educational implications., (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)