Students’ Proactive Aggressiveness, Mental Health Problems and Perceived Classroom Interaction

The aim of this study is to explore how students’ reports of proactive aggressiveness and mental health problems are associated with their perception of classroom interaction when controlling for socioeconomic status, gender and grade level. Classroom interaction is understood in terms of teachers’ emotional support, monitoring and instructional support. Proactive aggressiveness and mental health problems represent common types of student behaviors teachers encounter in the classroom. Students in 85 classrooms in ten schools in Norway completed a web-based questionnaire. A total of 1,571 students in grades 5–10 (ages 10–15) participated. Multilevel modeling revealed that proactive aggressiveness and mental health problems were negatively related to teachers’ emotional support, monitoring and instructional support. Implications for teachers’ practice are discussed.