Young children's interpersonal trust consistency as a predictor of future school adjustment

• Trust is crucial for children's psychosocial adjustment.
• Interpersonal trust consistency predicted changes in school adjustment.
• Variations emerged according to social group and facet of trust.

Young children's interpersonal trust consistency was examined as a predictor of future school adjustment. One hundred and ninety two (95 male and 97 female, Mage = 6 years 2 months, SDage = 6 months) children from school years 1 and 2 in the United Kingdom were tested twice over one year. Children completed measures of peer trust and school adjustment and teachers completed the Short-Form Teacher Rating Scale of School Adjustment. Longitudinal quadratic relationships emerged between consistency of children's peer trust beliefs and peer-reported trustworthiness and school adjustment and these varied according to social group, facet of trust, and indicator of school adjustment. The findings support the conclusion that interpersonal trust consistency, especially for secret-keeping, predicts aspects of young children's school adjustment.