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This study examined associations between teacher-student relationship quality at school and teachers' responsiveness to students' emotional concerns in a classroom and (a) students' intention to seek help at school for mental health concerns and (b) mental health-related service use. Data for analyses came from the School Mental Health Survey, a cross-sectional survey of 31,120 grade 6–12 students, in 1968 classrooms, attending 248 schools in Ontario, Canada. Three-level (student, classroom, school) binary logistic regression was used to address the study objectives. Student ratings of the quality of teacher-student relationships and teachers' responsiveness were included as predictors, both at the individual student level and aggregated to represent a contextual level characteristic at the school and classroom level, respectively. At the student level, both teacher-student relationship quality and teacher responsiveness were positively associated with intentions to seek help at school among both elementary and secondary students (ORs ranged from 1.14–1.19 for relationships and 1.06–1.08 for responsiveness). Aggregated to the school level, teacher-student relationship quality was positively associated with mental health service use for secondary students (OR = 1.36, 95% CI [1.10, 1.69]). Positive and responsive teacher-student relationships were associated with help-seeking behaviors among students. Longitudinal studies are warranted to disentangle the temporality of these associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Teachers are an important source of information about individual child psychopathology. • Ratings of child symptoms should be collected using instruments that are practical and produce valid and reliable scores. • The Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS) parent/caregiver and youth versions meet these requirements. • This paper develops and evaluates a teacher version of these scales (OCHS-EBS-T), includes a copy of the instrument and Canadian general population normative data. • The OCHS-EBS-T meet the psychometric requirements of validity and reliability, although the conduct disorder subscale should be interpreted with caution. This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of a teacher version of the Ontario Child Health Study Emotional Behavioural Scales (OCHS-EBS-T) for dimensional measurement of six psychiatric disorders in elementary school-aged children based on DSM-5 criteria. Psychometric evaluation of the item and scale properties was conducted in a large, general population study of elementary teacher assessments of 3,072 children aged 4 to 13 years in 2,354 families in Ontario, Canada. Content validity, internal construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the six disorder subscales were assessed. Structural equation modelling was used to assess measurement invariance, internal and external convergent and discriminant validity. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed unidimensionality of subscales and adequate item-fit to all scales. Measurement equivalence was demonstrated fully for four subscales and partially for two. Internal consistency reliability for all subscales exceeded 0.78, except for the conduct disorder scale in 12- to 13-year-olds. Evidence of internal convergent validity was demonstrated in all cases. Discriminant validity was demonstrated in 27 out of 30 correlation comparisons. External convergent and discriminant validity was demonstrated when comparing the OCHS-EBS-T to a parent/caregiver measure of disorders in 48 out of 60 correlation comparisons. All subscales independently predicted child mental health-related service contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]