What if I don’t like all of them? A person-centered approach to examine student–teacher relationships in the first year of secondary school

Person-centered analyses were used to identify relationship profiles based on seventh graders’ perceptions of relationships with three of their teachers (homeroom teacher, teacher of the easiest subject, teacher of the hardest subject). Furthermore, we investigated whether students’ characteristics (gender and academic track) could explain relationship profile membership and how these relationship profiles were associated with students’ school engagement. Students (N = 899, 47.8% girls) reported about their relationships (closeness, conflict) with their teachers. Students and their homeroom teachers reported about students’ behavioral and emotional engagement. Four relationship profiles were found: a no risk profile (high closeness, low conflict with all three teachers), two single risk profiles (low closeness, high conflict with only one teacher), and one multiple risk profile (high conflict with all three teachers). Furthermore, boys were underrepresented in the no risk profile. Finally, students in the no risk profile tended to be more behaviorally and emotional engaged.