Determinants of primary school students' support and their attitudes towards peers with social and emotional difficulties

Following the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, creating inclusive learning environments in primary education remains a significant challenge. In particular, students with social and emotional difficulties often experience social exclusion, isolation, victimization and bullying at school which can lead to long-term mental health issues and academic struggles . Students' attitudes and their supportive behaviours towards peers with social and emotional difficulties have been identified as crucial starting points for enhancing the social participation of students with social and emotional difficulties in inclusive education. However, the factors that determine students' positive attitudes and supportive behaviours towards peers with social and emotional difficulties are widely unknown. To address this gap, we conducted a study with N = 577 students in grades 3 and 4 on their attitudes towards peers with social and emotional difficulties, their social support behaviour, their perspective taking ability, their contact experiences with peers with social and emotional difficulties, and their perceptions of teachers' behaviours towards students with social and emotional difficulties. On the one hand, the results from a structural equation model reveal that students' attitudes towards peers with social and emotional difficulties are significantly predicted by their previous contact experiences and their perceptions of teachers' behaviours towards children with social and emotional difficulties, but not by their perspective taking ability. On the other hand, the model shows that students' social support behaviours are explained by their perspective taking ability and their perceptions of teachers' behaviours towards children with social and emotional difficulties, but not by students' contact experiences. Overall, the findings highlight the important role of teachers as social referents for the development of students' positive attitudes and their social support behaviours towards peers with social and emotional difficulties and thus for improving the social participation of students with social and emotional difficulties in inclusive primary education.