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Vol.21, No.2, 2025, BECE 2053 

 

 

 

 

The Roles of the Peer, Teacher-Student, and Family 

Relationships in Promoting Student Social and Emo-

tional Development 

By Huang, Z. & Li, J. 
Correspondence to: Zhongjing Huang, East China Normal University, China. E-

mail: zjhuang@dedu.ecnu.edu.cn  

ocial and emotional skills are crucial for interpersonal interactions. peer, 

teacher-student, and family relationships are core factors in the socializa-

tion of adolescents, constituting important components of the educational en-

vironment that influences their social and emotional development. based on 

the data of chinese students from the second round of the oecd survey on so-

cial and emotional skills (sses), this study examines the effects of peer, 

teacher-student, and family relationships on the development of social and 

emotional skills in chinese students, using the method of hierarchical linear 

modeling (hlm). it aims to provide evidence-based insights for the future cul-

tivation of social and emotional skills among chinese teenagers. 

Research Findings: 

• The overall level of social and emotional development among 

Chinese students was relatively high, but with variations in individual skills 

in the five domains. There were significant variations in the levels of social 

and emotional skills among students of different gender, from varied socio-

economic status (SES) backgrounds, and from distinct classroom environ-

ments. 

• The peer, teacher-student, and family relationships were sig-

nificant predictors of the levels of students’ social and emotional skills, de-

spite that the impact of the family relationship was relatively weaker. 

• The effects of the peer, teacher-student, and family relation-

ships on adolescent social and emotional development varied between differ-

ent age groups. The impact of teachers on students’ social and emotional 

skills grew stronger with the increase in students’ age. 

• The effects of the three relationships also differed across var-

ious domains of social and emotional skills. 

Recommendations: 

• Pay attention to the differences in social and emotional de-

velopment among individuals and provide targeted training programs. 

• Foster supportive interpersonal relationships on the campus 

that facilitate student social and emotional development. 

S 

mailto:zjhuang@dedu.ecnu.edu.cn


 

Vol.21, No.2, 2025, BECE 2054 

• Enhance the quality of home education to give solid backing 

for teenage non-cognitive development. 

• Leverage the positive effects of peer, teacher-student, and 

family relationships on student social and emotional development by fully 

considering the characteristics of their impacts in various education phases 

and in different domains of skills. 

 
Source: Research in Educational Development, 2025; 45(10): 16-27. 


