Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1563-9627

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

College of Applied Human Sciences

Department

Not Listed

Committee Chair

Jessica Troilo

Committee Co-Chair

Gabrielle Kline

Committee Member

Amy Root

Committee Member

Frankie Tack

Abstract

This project aimed to address significant gaps in literature around addiction-related attitudes by identifying early childhood educators’ addiction-related attitudes and how these attitudes associate with their relationships with students who come from homes with addiction. A sample of 501 ECEs completed an online survey which included the Public Attitudes About Addiction Survey (PAAS; a 54-item measure used to identify a person’s beliefs about addiction across five models), the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS; a 15-item scale used to measure the level of closeness and conflict), and various demographic and community questions. Path analysis revealed that both moral and nature aligned attitudes of addiction were positively associated with conflict in the student-teacher relationship, while belief in the psychological model was positively associated with closeness. Three demographic variables (religious commitment, gender, and how affected participants’ communities were by the opioid crisis) were found to be positively associated with all five models of addiction. Lastly, the number of years an ECE had worked in the early childhood education field was negatively associated with all the models of addiction, except for the sociological model. Findings demonstrate the importance of examining ECEs’ addiction attitudes and their implications for student-teacher relationships in early childhood.

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