Relationships Between School Hassles and Uplifts and Anxiety and Conduct Problems in Grades 3 and 4

Abstract

This study explored whether behavior problems and anxiety in primary school children are related to daily experiences with school. A differentiated view of daily experiences was proposed to examine the relationship between hassles and uplifts in different areas: peers, teachers, schoolwork, and home-school issues. Self-report data from 256 Australian students in grades 3 and 4 underwent correlation and multiple regression analyses. Reports of hassles with school were related to major negative life events as well as anxiety and conduct problems. Hassles with peers and hassles with teachers made unique contributions to the prediction of anxiety and conduct problems, respectively. Overall, reports of uplifts were neither related to major life events nor to reports of hassles or anxiety or conduct. However, the interaction of peer hassles and uplifts contributed significantly to the prediction of conduct problems. The results are discussed in relation to prior research, different conceptualizations of stress, and possible implications for prevention and intervention.