Elementary school classroom emotional climate as a moderator of anxious solitary children's risk for peer exclusion: A child x environment model

The current study examined classroom emotional climate as a moderator of anxious solitary children's risk for peer exclusion over a three-year period from third through fifth grade. A sample of 688 children completed peer nominations for anxious solitude and peer exclusion in the Fall and Spring semesters of each grade, and observations of classroom emotional climate were conducted at the same timepoints. Cross-classified growth curves with Poisson distributions were computed using hierarchical linear modeling. Results supported the child x environment model and provide evidence that elementary school classroom emotional climate has concurrent by not long-term effects on anxious solitary children's peer adjustment in later middle childhood. Current results suggest that supportive classroom emotional climates have protective effects on anxious solitary children by Spring semesters across all grades. Results suggest that teachers who are able to provide supportive classroom environments can decrease levels of peer exclusion in their classrooms.