| Abstract |
The aim of this study was to investigate family and school factors associated with behavior problems of elementary school students and management practices in the family and school context in the suburban area of Gazi Heraklion Crete. In particular, it was a case study based on the collection of empirical and qualitative data. In the empirical part, conducted a comparative research of 55 students with behavioral problems (research group) and 55 students without behavior problems (control group), belonging to the last three grades of primary school, by completing 7 total questionnaires: 1) TRF Questionnaire for Teachers (32 Questions) children aged 6 - 18 years (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003), 2) Psychosocial Adjustment Tool: self-report scale for students 10-12 years old (Chatzichristou, Polychroni, Bezevegkis, & Mylonas, 2008), 3) Psychosocial Adjustment Tool: Teacher Scale for Children 7-12 years (Chatzichristou, Polychroni, Bezevegkis, & Mylonas, 2008), 4) PARQ/Parental Acceptance-Rejection/Short Form (Rohner, 2004), 5) TARQ/Teacher 's Acceptance-Rejection/Short Form (Rohner, 2004), 6) SFI/Self Report Family Inventory, Version II (Beavers & Hampson, 1990) & 7) The Questionnaire of my Class for Primary School (TET/Voulgaris & Matsagouras, 2004). The qualitative part of the study included a total of 12 cases of students with behavioral problems and conduct semi-structured interviews students themselves, their parents and their teachers (a total of 36 interviews), which investigated the following main themes: the management practices that adopted by parents and teachers toward students’ behavior problems, the way they experienced by students, the reactions they cause to them, the estimate of their effectiveness by all three sides. The empirical analysis of the survey data, which was based on the Statistical Package IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20, included bivariate relations, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Path Analysis, which examined the adjustment of nine different Path Models. The interviews of the qualitative study were analyzed by method of content analysis. According to the main findings of the empirical part: 1) the self-concept of the student plays the most important role in predicting behavior problems in this population of students, compared with other factors of psychosocial development (social, emotional and educational adequacy), 2) hostility/aggression of the father and mother predict significantly the presence of behavioral problems in this population, 3) the attitude of acceptance/rejection of both parents found to be common among them, with the attitude of the father affecting the attitude of the mother to mild forms of rejection and the attitude of the mother to influence the attitude of the father in the most severe forms of rejection, while the relative attitude of the teacher influenced by the attitude of the father, 4) warmth/affection of the mother plays the most important role in predicting behavior problems and school adequacy of these students, compared with other dimensions of maternal and paternal acceptance/rejection, while both cohesion and family conflict predict on the same way healthy/competent family functioning and 5) undifferentiated rejection of teacher provides greater extent the presence of behavioral problems in this study population compared with the other dimensions of teacher’s acceptance/rejection, while both cohesiveness and friction of the class predict on the same way student’s satisfaction from its function. Additionally, according to the main data of the qualitative part of the research: 1) predominate the negative parenting and educational practices in addressing students’ behavior problems (e.g. raising the tone of voice, punishments, natural/physical aggression), according to the reports of the students themselves, 2) parental practices and especially mothers’ experienced by students as more harsh than those of their teachers and are usually associated with their non-compliance, as opposed to those of the teacher, in which students comply, 3) negative parenting practices cause feelings of distress, fear and anger in students, 4) effective parenting and educational practices according to the perception of all three sides, unanimously associated with positive mainly approaches of students (e.g. discussion, encouragement, humor), while ineffective practices associated with only negative approaching ways (e.g. raising the tone of voice, punishment, reproval) and 5) students ask their parents and their teachers to stop negative and increase positive practices. These data contribute significantly to a better understanding of the specific study population, which is a necessary prerequisite and condition for the design and implementation of focused/effective preventive programs and interventions regarding problem/antisocial (aggressive and delinquent) behavior of pre-adolescents students.
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