Regular articleSelf-esteem and mental health in early adolescence: development and gender differences
Abstract
A longitudinal study of a general population (n=219;Mage: 12, 13 and 14), was carried out between 1990 and 1993 over 3 years in Lausanne (Switzerland). Several questionnaires, validated in French, were used: Perceived Competence Scale, Social Support Appraisal and a questionnaire on mental health developed in our research Unit. We attempted to answer the following questions: Is there a global change in self-esteem during early adolescence? If so, does the way in which the young person perceives himself vary according to the social and relational environment? What are the differences between boys and girls in the development of self-esteem? What is the relation between self-esteem and mental health?
As to the specific differences according to gender, results show that girls tend to have a poorer self-esteem than boys, whatever the domains taken into consideration. Differences are more significant with reference to appearance and athletic performance. As far as the development of self-esteem is concerned, there is no major change, notably when considering global perception. Results of a factor analysis underscore the fact that girls' self-esteem is more global and less differentiated by domain while boys separate the scholastic and behavioral part of their experience from the social. Global self-esteem has more influence on the level of depressive mood in girls than in boys.
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Self-esteem, symptom severity, and treatment response in adolescents with internalizing problems
2020, Journal of Affective DisordersAdolescents with low self-esteem often experience internalizing psychopathology (i.e., anxiety, depression). Self-esteem may therefore be a clinically relevant construct for assessment and treatment outcomes. We examined whether general and domain-specific (family, peer, academic) self-esteem are related to adolescents’ internalizing symptom severity and response to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).
Participants were 89 adolescents ages 14 to 18 years (M = 16.3, 70% females) from an outpatient clinic who were referred for CBT. Adolescents completed measures of self-esteem at baseline and measures of internalizing symptoms at baseline and at the end of a manualized group CBT intervention.
Lower peer and family self-esteem, but not academic self-esteem, were associated with more internalizing symptoms at baseline, after controlling for general self-esteem. However, only higher general self-esteem, and not any of the specific self-esteem domains, predicted lower internalizing symptoms at posttreatment. Follow-up analyses revealed differential associations between family and peer self-esteem domains and anxious and depressive symptoms.
Only self-report measures were used. The relatively small sample size may have limited power to detect small effects.
Self-esteem in domains regarding family and peer relationships may be important in the evaluation of adolescents with internalizing problems. Adolescents with low general self-esteem may benefit less from CBT than other adolescents. Addressing negative self-perceptions may be necessary to reduce internalizing symptoms for adolescents with low self-esteem.