TEACHERS’ EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING: EVIDENCE FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SETTINGS

Abstract

Teachers’ emotional support plays a crucial role in shaping young children’s emotional experiences in early childhood education settings. However, empirical evidence examining its association with preschool children’s emotional well-being using ethically low-risk, non-experimental designs remains limited. The present study investigated the relationship between teachers’ emotional support and preschool children’s emotional well-being using a cross-sectional, teacher-report survey design. Data were collected from 214 preschool teachers who reported on one focal child aged 3–6 years. Teachers’ emotional support and children’s emotional well-being were assessed using validated self-report measures. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that teachers’ emotional support was a significant positive predictor of preschool children’s emotional well-being after controlling for child age and teacher teaching experience. The findings underscore the importance of emotionally supportive teacher–child interactions in promoting children’s emotional well-being in everyday classroom contexts. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting emotional support as a key contextual factor in early childhood education and by providing ethically sound evidence on the psychological significance of emotionally responsive teaching practices.