RELATIONSHIPS WITH TEACHERS AND BONDS WITH SCHOOL: SOCIAL EMOTIONAL ADJUSTMENT CORRELATES FOR CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES christopher murray DePaul University mark t. greenberg Pennsylvania State University, University Park In this investigation, fifth- and sixth-grade children (N = 289) completed a measure to assess as- pects of their relationships with teachers and bonds with schools. Children and teachers also com- pleted measures related to children’s social and emotional adjustment. Analyses of responses to these measures indicated that students with disabilities had greater dissatisfaction with their rela- tionships with teachers, poorer bonds with school, and perceived higher school danger than did stu- dents without disabilities. Comparisons involving students who were receiving services for emo- tional disturbance (ED), learning disabilities (LD), mild mental retardation (MMR), other health impairments (OHI), and no disabilities indicated that students with ED and students with MMR had poorer affiliation with teachers and greater dissatisfaction with teachers than students without disabilities. Students with ED also had poorer bonds with school than did students without dis- abilities. Students with LD and students with MMR had significantly higher ratings of perceived school danger than did students without disabilities. Results of correlational analyses indicated that student-teacher relationship and school bonding variables were associated with social and emo- tional adjustment variables for students with and without disabilities. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Supportive social relations are of considerable importance to adjustment and functioning throughout life (Cassidy & Shaver, 1999). For children, relationships with others and bonds with so- cial institutions, such as schools, can help to buffer the effects of stressful life events and promote normative adjustment (Hawkins & Catalano, 1992; Werner & Smith, 1989). In contrast, being dis- satisfied with one’s personal relationships and feeling alienated from social organizations are relat- ed to problematic social and emotional adjustment (Newman, 1981; Resnick et al., 1997). For the past three decades, the characteristics and importance of close personal relationships and social bonds have been studied in developmental psychology (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978; Greenberg, 1999), sociology (Hawkins, Doueck, & Lishner, 1988; Hirschi, 1969), and psychiatry (Comer, 1993; Resnick et al., 1997; Rutter, Maughn, Mortimore, Ouston, & Smith, 1979). Much of this work has developed from the concept of resilience and the realization that the quality of children’s social relationships and bonds can serve protective functions (Miller, Brehm, & White- house, 1998; Werner & Smith, 1989). Despite growing awareness of the importance of social and relational experiences, relatively few investigations have focused on school-age children with disabilities and the quality of their so- cial relationships with teachers and school bonds. It may be particularly important to examine these constructs among this population because these students are receiving special education services due to an observed difficulty in social, emotional, and/or academic functioning. Furthermore, students in these categories are at risk of developing additional social and emotional adjustment problems that fall outside the defining characteristics of specific disability classifications (Morrison & Cosden, 1997). For example, although students with learning disabilities (LD) are identified by most school districts because of discrepancies between cognitive functioning and achievement, many of these Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 38(1), 2001 © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 25 This research was supported by Grant PHS RO1 MH42131 from the Prevention Branch, National Institute of Mental Health to Mark T. Greenberg. Correspondence to: Christopher Murray, School of Education, DePaul University, 2320 North Kenmore Avenue, Chica- go, IL 60614-3298. E-mail: cmurray@wppost.depaul.edu.