This study examined the moderating role of teacher-child relationships on children`s emotional regulation strategies and their social withdrawal. Participants were 198 children (103 boys, 95 girls; aged 4-5 years old) and 18 child care teachers. The teachers completed SCBD (LaFreniere & Dumas, 1996), CCSC (Eisneberg et al., 1993) and STRS (Pianta & Steinberg, 1992) to measure children`s social withdrawal, emotional regulation strategies and teacher-child relationships. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions. Results showed that children`s positive regulation strategy was negatively related to, whereas children`s venting/support seeking strategy and avoidance/non-responsive strategy had positive relation to their social withdrawal. The teacher-child relationships significantly related to children`s social withdrawal. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that the interaction of children`s venting/support seeking strategy and teacher-child relationships predicted children`s social withdrawal. Children`s venting/ support seeking strategy was associated with social withdrawal, especially for children with the highest level of conflictual teacher-child relationship and the lowest level of close teacher-child relationship. In conclusion, the effect of children`s emotional regulation strategy on social withdrawal was moderated by teacher-child relationships. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of teacher-child relationships in the context of intervention planning for withdrawn children. |