The Role of Relationships with Teachers in Adolescent Development among a National Sample of Chinese Urban Adolescents

A nationally representative sample of 1640 Chinese urban adolescents (mean age=14.5 years) and their parents and teachers were surveyed to examine the associations between relationships with teachers and parents and adolescents' developmental outcomes such as academic performance, psychological well-being, altruistic behaviors, and misconduct. Results showed that the quality of adolescents' relationships with teachers was highly correlated with adolescent outcomes, in most cases more so than for relationships with parents. Furthermore, such associations were the same across both genders and three grade levels. These findings suggest that teachers may play an especially significant role in Chinese adolescent development. This study adds to the small but growing literature on the importance of teachers as well as other non-parental adults in adolescent psychosocial development.