Teacher-student perceptual mismatch in positive co-experiences is associated with adolescent depression, bullying victimization, and suicidality
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Beijing Haidian Hospital, Haidian Section of Peking University Third Hospital , ,
- 2Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, Shandong University of Commerce and Technology , , ,
- 3Department of Medical Affairs, Heze Municipal Hospital , , ,
- 4Department of Psychiatry, Heze Municipal Hospital , , ,
Abstract
Background: Positive teacher-student interactions may be associated with adolescent mental health, but teachers and students may not experience the same interactions similarly. Integrating self-determination theory with the Operations Triad Model, we examined whether mismatch in positive teacher-student co-experiences was associated with adolescent mental health and whether mismatch direction mattered.
Methods: Cross-sectional paired data were analyzed from 1,836 students aged 11–17 years nested within 40 homeroom teachers in Hunan Province, China. Students and teachers completed parallel three-item measures of positive co-experiences. Four profiles were defined using reporter-specific medians: both high, teacher high-student low, both low, and teacher low-student high. Generalized estimating equations accounted for classroom clustering and adjusted for demographic covariates.
Results: Homeroom-teacher ratings showed little convergence with class-mean student ratings ( r = −0.186, P = 0.250). Compared with the both-high profile, the teacher high-student low profile showed higher depressive symptoms, bullying severity, odds of any bullying victimization (OR = 1.343, 95% CI 1.129–1.598), and odds of suicidality (OR = 1.729, 95% CI 1.183–2.526). Directional mismatch was especially informative: relative to the teacher low-student high profile, the teacher high-student low profile had higher depressive symptoms (beta = 0.665), higher bullying severity (beta = 0.730), 1.79-fold higher odds of bullying victimization, and 2.04-fold higher odds of suicidality. Extreme-discrepancy sensitivity analyses yielded the same pattern.
Conclusion: Teacher-student perceptual mismatch was associated with adolescent mental health in a direction-specific manner. The findings are consistent with the proposition that positive relational experiences may be most protective when teacher-perceived support is also experienced positively by students, and that multi-informant discrepancies can provide useful contextual information for school-based mental health screening, rather than constituting clinical diagnostic measures.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026teacherstudent,
title = {{Teacher-student perceptual mismatch in positive co-experiences is associated with adolescent depression, bullying victimization, and suicidality}},
author = {Yuanyuan Wang and Hongyu Shi and Xiang Gu and Zhihong Tan and Junqi Ma and Ke Wang},
journal = {Frontiers in public health},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1976771},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662058},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Teacher-student perceptual mismatch in positive co-experiences is associated with adolescent depression, bullying victimization, and suicidality
AU - Yuanyuan Wang
AU - Hongyu Shi
AU - Xiang Gu
AU - Zhihong Tan
AU - Junqi Ma
AU - Ke Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - Frontiers in public health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1976771
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13662058
AB - Background: Positive teacher-student interactions may be associated with adolescent mental health, but teachers and students may not experience the same interactions similarly. Integrating self-determination theory with the Operations Triad Model, we examined whether mismatch in positive teacher-student co-experiences was associated with adolescent mental health and whether mismatch direction mattered. Methods: Cross-sectional paired data were analyzed from 1,836 students aged 11–17 years nested within 40 homeroom teachers in Hunan Province, China. Students and teachers completed parallel three-item measures of positive co-experiences. Four profiles were defined using reporter-specific medians: both high, teacher high-student low, both low, and teacher low-student high. Generalized estimating equations accounted for classroom clustering and adjusted for demographic covariates. Results: Homeroom-teacher ratings showed little convergence with class-mean student ratings ( r = −0.186, P = 0.250). Compared with the both-high profile, the teacher high-student low profile showed higher depressive symptoms, bullying severity, odds of any bullying victimization (OR = 1.343, 95% CI 1.129–1.598), and odds of suicidality (OR = 1.729, 95% CI 1.183–2.526). Directional mismatch was especially informative: relative to the teacher low-student high profile, the teacher high-student low profile had higher depressive symptoms (beta = 0.665), higher bullying severity (beta = 0.730), 1.79-fold higher odds of bullying victimization, and 2.04-fold higher odds of suicidality. Extreme-discrepancy sensitivity analyses yielded the same pattern. Conclusion: Teacher-student perceptual mismatch was associated with adolescent mental health in a direction-specific manner. The findings are consistent with the proposition that positive relational experiences may be most protective when teacher-perceived support is also experienced positively by students, and that multi-informant discrepancies can provide useful contextual information for school-based mental health screening, rather than constituting clinical diagnostic measures.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -