Dynamics of Self-Esteem: A Growth-Curve Analysis

• NCJ Number: 193834
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2002 Pages: 101-113
• Author(s): Scott A. Baldwin; John P. Hoffmann
• Date Published: April 2002
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used a growth-curve analysis to examine changes in self-esteem in youths from early adolescence to early adulthood.

Abstract

The study used data on 762 youths who took part in the Family Health Study and were ages 11-16 in the study’s first year. This longitudinal survey took place in a large Midwestern metropolitan area and began in 1990. The study collected data on stressful life events such as death or changes in school or residence and family cohesion in terms of the amount of time that the family spent together and the extent that the family communicated. The study used Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale to measure self-esteem each year. The research estimated a hierarchical growth-curve model that emphasized the effects of age, life events, gender, and family cohesion on self-esteem. Results indicated that the relationship between age and self-esteem was curvilinear. This finding indicates that self-esteem is a dynamic construct rather than a static construct. In addition, shifts in life events and family cohesion influenced changes in self-esteem. Moreover, these processes differed for males and females, particularly during early adolescence; fluctuations in self-esteem were significantly more dramatic among females than among males. Female self-esteem decreased substantially from age 12 to about age 17, whereas males’ self esteem increased until age 14, decreased until about age 16, and increased in early adulthood. Findings indicated that the impact of life events on self-esteem no longer differed by gender by young adulthood and that being an adolescent member of a cohesive family was associated with increased self-esteem over time. The analysis concludes that adolescents’ self-concept and self-esteem change substantially during adolescence and that changes relate to both dynamic and static factors. Figure, tables, appended table, and 74 references