Early Childhood Teachers' Depression and Experiences with Challenging Behaviors: Does Working with Children with Disabilities Matter?

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Title: Early Childhood Teachers' Depression and Experiences with Challenging Behaviors: Does Working with Children with Disabilities Matter?
Authors: Kilincci, Emine1 (AUTHOR) kilincci@wisc.edu, An, Zhe Gigi1 (AUTHOR) zhe.gigi.an@wisc.edu
Source: Early Childhood Education Journal. Mar2026, Vol. 54 Issue 3, p1267-1278. 12p.
Subject Terms: *Children with disabilities, *Psychology of teachers, *Behavior disorders in children, *At-risk behavior, *Mental health education, *Classroom management, *Early childhood education
Abstract: Given high exclusionary discipline practices and decisions in early childhood education, it is important to understand teachers' experiences with challenging behaviors and examine factors associated with their experiences. Depression, as a significant indicator of well-being and prevalent among early educators, is understudied in relation to teachers' challenging behavior experiences. This study examines the association between early childhood teachers' self-reported depression scores and experiences with children's challenging behaviors and whether this association varies for teachers working with children with disabilities (CWD), using data from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education. The analysis focused on 3079 center-based early childhood teachers. Both linear and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. The results showed that teachers with higher levels of depression scores were significantly more likely to report higher levels of challenging behaviors in children. While working with CWD increases the likelihood of reporting challenging behaviors, it did not significantly alter the association between teacher depression and their experiences with challenging behaviors. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Early Childhood Education Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Early Childhood Teachers' Depression and Experiences with Challenging Behaviors: Does Working with Children with Disabilities Matter?
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education+Journal%22">Early Childhood Education Journal</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 54 Issue 3, p1267-1278. 12p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children+with+disabilities%22">Children with disabilities</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+of+teachers%22">Psychology of teachers</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Behavior+disorders+in+children%22">Behavior disorders in children</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22At-risk+behavior%22">At-risk behavior</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+health+education%22">Mental health education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Classroom+management%22">Classroom management</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Early+childhood+education%22">Early childhood education</searchLink>
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  Data: Given high exclusionary discipline practices and decisions in early childhood education, it is important to understand teachers' experiences with challenging behaviors and examine factors associated with their experiences. Depression, as a significant indicator of well-being and prevalent among early educators, is understudied in relation to teachers' challenging behavior experiences. This study examines the association between early childhood teachers' self-reported depression scores and experiences with children's challenging behaviors and whether this association varies for teachers working with children with disabilities (CWD), using data from the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education. The analysis focused on 3079 center-based early childhood teachers. Both linear and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. The results showed that teachers with higher levels of depression scores were significantly more likely to report higher levels of challenging behaviors in children. While working with CWD increases the likelihood of reporting challenging behaviors, it did not significantly alter the association between teacher depression and their experiences with challenging behaviors. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Early Childhood Education Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s10643-025-01924-9
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Children with disabilities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology of teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Behavior disorders in children
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: At-risk behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Mental health education
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      – SubjectFull: Classroom management
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      – SubjectFull: Early childhood education
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      – TitleFull: Early Childhood Teachers' Depression and Experiences with Challenging Behaviors: Does Working with Children with Disabilities Matter?
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              Text: Mar2026
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              Y: 2026
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