Assessing Student-Teacher Relationship Quality in Cross-Cultural Contexts: Psychometric Properties of Student-Teacher Relationship Drawings

The present study examined the psychometric properties of Student-Teacher Relationship Drawings (STRDs) to assess student-teacher relationship quality in a cross-cultural context. A sample of upper elementary school students from both the Netherlands (N = 752) and China (N = 574) was included. Results showed sufficient inter-rater reliabilities of all drawing dimensions for both the Dutch (0.68 < ICC < 0.84) and Chinese samples (0.72 < ICC < 0.85). Multiple group analyses supported partially strong invariance of STRD-dimensions across the Dutch and Chinese samples. Relationship drawing dimensions also showed moderate associations with student-reported relationship quality and engagement across both the Dutch and Chinese sample. Future cross-cultural research may therefore employ STRDs to assess students' relationship experiences.