The Development of Perceived Scholastic Competence and Global Self-Worth in African American Adolescents from Low-Income Families

Abstract

Early childhood and concurrent factors associated with adolescents’self-perceptions of scholastic competence and global self-worth were examined longitudinally (at ages 12 and 15) among 88 adolescents from low-income families (87 African American). General linear mixed model analyses indicated that family conflict in adolescence, early childhood educational intervention, and academic achievement were predictors of perceived scholastic competence in adolescence, that the effects of the early home environment were moderated by early childhood educational intervention, and that the effects of the early home environment were stronger in earlier adolescence than in middle adolescence. Perceptions of scholastic, social, and physical competence, as well as the adolescents’ perceptions of concurrent family conflict, were significant predictors of global self-worth. This work adds to the understanding of the development of self-concepts by highlighting the influence of both early and concurrent factors on adolescents’views of themselves.