Associations Between Teacher-Student Relationship Quality and Middle and Secondary School Teachers’ Wellbeing: A Systematic Review

Abstract Positive teacher-student relationships have the potential to impact teacher, as well as student, wellbeing. However, in middle and secondary schools, where teachers have contact with more students and less time with each of them, it is less clear how important these relationships are. This study systematically reviewed the literature on the association between positive teacher-student relationships and wellbeing in middle and secondary school teachers. A total of 55 studies were included in the review. Results suggested that positive teacher-student relationships were associated with each of the other aspects of wellbeing outlined in the PERMA model (positive emotions, engagement, meaning, and accomplishment) as well as overall wellbeing. There was wide variation in how teacher-student relationships were measured and defined, with majority of the studies adopting tools and definitions that were formulated for primary school teacher-student relationships, indicating that developing an understanding of what constitutes positive relationships for teachers in middle and secondary school settings through future research would be valuable.