Father’s parenting attitude and teacher-child relationships: Mediating role of children’s self-regulation ability

Abstract

We examined father’s parenting attitudes in association with teacher-child relationships and the mediating role of young children’s self-regulation ability in this relationship. Participant fathers (n = 211), age range (below 30 to over 41 years of age) and teachers (n = 7), years of teaching experience (3 to 12 years) completed surveys of father-child pairs for 211 primary school children, with the teachers completing the children’s self-regulation survey. Results following path analysis indicated that higher scores on the father’s positive parenting attitudes were associated with stronger teacher-child relationships. The children’s teachers reported that self-regulation ability fully mediated fathers’ positive parenting attitudes to be stronger. These findings suggest a need for educators to engage with father parents to enhance children’s self-regulation ability, and thus strengthen teacher-child relationships.