Abstract
The teacher-student relationship plays a crucial role in adolescents' academic and socioemotional adjustment. This study validated the student version of the Teacher-Student Relationship Inventory (S-TSRI)—the first scale of its kind developed in an Asian setting—through a longitudinal study. A total of 2470 Mainland Chinese middle school students participated in the survey at Time 1 (M age = 13.86, SD = 0.81, 50.6 % females). Of these participants, 2307 students (M age = 14.83, SD = 0.78) completed the survey at Time 2, a year later. We analyzed the inventory's factor structure including measurement invariance across gender, grade, area, and time, internal consistency reliability, and criterion-related validity. The results showed that the three-factor model exhibited the best fit and achieved measurement invariance across all groups. Our findings provide essential longitudinal psychometric evidence that sheds light on how to improve teacher-student relationships and create a positive school environment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 105336 |
| Journal | Teaching and Teacher Education |
| Volume | 171 |
| Early online date | 29 Nov 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 29 Nov 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2025 The Authors
Funding
This research is financially supported by the Research Grants Council General Research Fund (Project no. 15614423), University Grants Committee, Hong Kong, which was awarded to the first author. This study was not preregistered.
Keywords
- Teacher-student relationship
- Measurement invariance
- Chinese adolescents
- Longitudinal validation
- Psychometrics