The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between children's attachment
representation and teacher-child relationships, a long with children's social
skills and their behavior problems. The subjects were 57 children (31 boys and 26
girls) from intact middle class families aged from 3 to 5 attending preschools and/or
day care centers. Four instruments were used: First, Attachment Story Completion
Task for assessing children's attachment; second, Student-Teacher Relationship Scale
for identifying the teachers' perception on the quality of the relationship between
children and teachers; third, Social Skill Scale from Child Behavior Assessment
Inventory for assessing children's social skills; and finally, Child Behavior Scale for
examining children's behavior problem. Descriptive statistics were calculated and
simple correlation was applied for data analysis. The research results are as follows:
First, the children's attachment security was significantly related to their relationships
to teachers. Children with more secure representations of attachment and less
avoidant responses exhibited closer relationships with teachers than those with more
insecure representations of attachment and more avoidant responses. Second, children
with more secure representations of attachment and less avoidant responses showed
more socially cooperative interactions and greater independence than those with more
insecure representations of attachment and more avoidant responses. The former case
of children showed more social competency while the latter one exhibited more aggressive and hyperactive behavior