In Hamre and Pianta's (2001) longitudinal study on teacher-child relationships, the benefits of the types of relationship a teacher established with a student differed by gender. This investigation was based on data from 179 children from a small city school district; the sample differed from the entire cohort class (who were not able to participate in the study through its conclusion in eighth grade) only in that it had a higher percentage of African American subjects (40%, to 60% Caucasian). It was found that boys experienced better long-term social and academic outcomes if low levels of conflict and dependency characterized their relationship with kindergarten teachers. Girls, however, evidenced better outcomes when their teacher-student relationship had a "close" quality (Hamre & Pianta, 2001).