Self-esteem For Boys Research Articles

Gender Differences in Adolescent Self-Esteem: An Exploration of Domains

The relationship between gender and global self-esteem in adolescence, while modest, has been well established, with boys consistently scoring higher than girls. In the present study, we sought to understand gender differences in adolescent self-esteem in terms of its component parts. With a relatively large (n = 545) sample of adolescents, drawn from Grades 8, 10. and 12, we specified 8 domains of adolescent self-esteem (personal security, home/parents, peer popularity, academic competence, attractiveness, personal mastery, psychological permeability, and athletic competence) across a number of different instruments and brought them together into a common assessment superstructure. Gender differences as well as the relative contributions of the different domains to overall self-esteem scores were measured. As predicted, boys attained slightly higher global self-esteem scores than girls did, by a difference of .22 standard deviation units. Contrary to our expectation of more balanced domain effects, boys significantly outperformed girls in 6 of 8 domains, whereas the 2 remaining domains exhibited no significant gender differences. There were no main or interaction effects for grade level. In terms of relative contribution of these domains to global self-esteem for the 2 genders, global self-esteem in boys and girls is predicted in very similar strengths and in the same order of magnitude by identical domains of self-esteem: home/parents, personal security, academic competence, attractiveness, and personal mastery—yielding multiple R 2s from .88 to .91.

Depression and self-esteem in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: associations with comorbid aggression and explanatory attributional mechanisms.

It was tested whether boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), subgrouped by aggressive status, would show higher rates of depressive symptomatology and lower levels of self-esteem than would comparison boys and, in a subsample, explored attributional mechanisms that may be related to such internalizing features. Study 1 utilized 114 boys with ADHD (all prior recipients of stimulant medication) and 87 comparison boys, aged 7-12 years. Aggressive boys with ADHD reported more symptoms of depression than did nonaggressive boys with ADHD, who, in turn, reported more depression than did comparison boys. Effect sizes were moderate to large and did not vary with a depression rating scale uncontaminated by ADHD-related items. For self-esteem, the most pronounced effect was that aggressive boys with ADHD showed lower levels than did nonaggressive ADHD or comparison boys; effects were again moderate to large. Study 2 participants were a subsample of boys with ADHD from Study 1 (N = 27). We probed causal attributions in ADHD-related domains through responses to hypothetical vignettes, in which the protagonist's medication status (medicated, not medicated) was crossed with type of outcome (good, bad). Medication-related attributions were frequent. In describing the protagonist's success in relation to medication treatment, the sample showed significant associations between (a) medication-related attributions and (b) increased depressive symptomatology as well as decreased self-esteem. We discuss attributional processes that may help to explain the variation in internalizing symptoms among children with ADHD.

Avaliação da auto-estima em jovens transmontanos

Em Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro as cidades são, essencialmente, pequenas com uma população estudantil proveniente do meio rural e da urbe. Devido a estas características, considerámos importante levar a cabo um estudo que nos desse uma idéia clara sobre a auto-estima desses jovens, principalmente os adolescentes. Este trabalho é um estudo exploratório e descritivo. Preten-demos saber qual é o nível de auto-estima de jovens escolarizados, com idades compreendidas entre os 14 e os 16 anos de idade de ambos os sexos e se existe alguma relação entre esses níveis e: local de residência habitual (aldeia versus cidade); sexo e as idades. A amostra foi constituída por 1033 jovens de ambos os sexos (547 raparigas 444 rapazes). Estes foram, por sua vez, divididos em grupos consoante o seu local de residência: Aldeia 460 (241 femininos e 219 masculinos) e Cidade 573 (306 femininos e 267 masculinos). Para calcular a auto-estima recorre-mos à escala de Rosenberg, respeitando a sua escala inicial - Gutman. Os testes estatísticos utilizados foram a correlação de Pearson incluindo o Chi-quadrado. Os resultados demonstram existir diferenças por sexo e grupo etário relativa-mente ao local de residência. Os moradores nos centros urbanos apresen-taram maiores índices de auto-estima comparativamente aos residentes em zonas rurais. No entanto, os últimos parecem apresentar níveis mais unifor-mes de auto-estima do que as raparigas, sendo esta diferença mais acen-tuada nos meios rurais.

Parental Marital Status and Self-Esteem of Boys and Girls

The purpose was to investigate the effects of parental marital status and sex on the self-esteem of children by assessing differences on mean self-esteem between boys and girls of divorced families as compared to boys and girls of intact families. The mean score on self-esteem of 54 children (27 boys, 27 girls) from divorced families was compared to that for 54 children (27 boys, 27 girls) from intact families using the Culture-free Self-esteem Inventory. Using factorial analysis, a statistically significant difference was found for sex but not for type of family or its interaction with sex.

Family Functioning and Children’s Self-Esteem: A Test of the Structure and Relationships of the FACES III

The study investigated the relationship between aspects of family processes and children's self-esteem. Four hundred and sixty eight children completed the Where Are You Game (WAYG II), a measure of global self-esteem, and both of their parents completed the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES III). Factor analysis of the FACES III indicated a three- factor structure was most appropriate. The original Cohesion scale was validated, but the Adaptability scale was decomposed into two scales labelled Democracy and Change, which seem to correspond to first and second order change in Olson's revised Circumplex Model. Various analyses showed no support for the curvilinear hypothesis of the Model. Self-esteem of boys was significantly correlated with the Cohesion scores for both parents, but no relationships emerged for girls. Multiple regression analyses showed the only other measure to significantly predict self-esteem scores were those associated with socioeconomic status, for girls only.

Modeling Efficacy: The Effect of Perceived Parental Efficacy on the Self-Efficacy of Early Adolescents

This study examines the effects of early adolescents' perceptions of parents' efficacy and parents' behaviors on the self-efficacy of early adolescents. Eighty-two young people between the ages of 9 and 15 years provided data on themselves and their parents in structured interviews. Separate path analyses for same and opposite sex parents for boys and girls provide evidence that perceived efficacy of parents has a greater influence on the self-efficacy of boys and that parental behaviors more strongly affect the self-efficacy of girls. It is concluded that the origins of this dimension of self-esteem in boys is more strongly influenced by modeling, while for girls, reflected appraisals are more important.

Self-Concept in Mathematically Gifted Adolescents.

Much research has been done on the personality characteristics of children identified as gifted on general intelligence measures. Past research, however, has suggested that personality may vary as a function of the specific area of giftedness, the absolute level of giftedness, and the sex of the adolescent. Mathematical ability is of particular interest, since this ability area is usually stereotyped as being more appropriate for males, and may have differential affect on the personalities of gifted boys and girls. Therefore, the present study investigated the self-esteem and self-concepts of boys and girls (N = 216) who were either highly gifted, able, or average mathematical ability. Thirty-six students of each type completed the Adjective Check List. In regard to self-esteem, level of mathematical ability had no effect on the self-esteem of boys, but did for girls. Furthermore, both sex of S and level of ability had an effect on the content of the self-descriptions.

Sex Differences in Self-Esteem and Parental Behavior

The relationship of reported behaviors of both mothers and fathers to the self-esteem of 4- and 5-yr.-old children, with the sex of the child as a variable, was examined. With this intention, the following questions were asked: (1) Do parents behave differently toward boys and girls? (2) Does parental treatment of boys and girls relate to children's self-esteem? (3) Does one sex have higher self-esteem than the other? 49 boys and 45 girls were tested for self-esteem; a paper-and-pencil inventory was used to assess their parents' behavior. Parents indicated that they behaved differently toward boys and girls as follows: fathers interact more with sons than with daughters; mothers interact more with daughters than do fathers but also interact more with sons than do fathers and interact more similarly with boys and girls than do fathers. The data also indicate that some behaviors of mothers are significantly related to high self-esteem in girls while similar or even the same behaviors of fathers are significantly related to low self-esteem in boys and girls. Boys had higher self-esteem than girls.

A Comparison of the Self-Esteem between Boys Living with Single-Parent Mothers and Single-Parent Fathers

This study investigated the self-esteem of boys between the ages of 9 and 14 as related to the sex and adjustment of the custodial parent, the frequency of visitation of the noncustodial parent, the length of time the child lived in a single-parent home, and the quality of the relationship between the parents. Results revealed no significant difference in self-esteem between boys living with single-parent mothers and boys living with single-parent fathers. No significant correlations were found between self-esteem of boys, the length of time they lived in a single-parent home, and the quality of the parental relationship. The self-esteem of those boys who saw their absent-from-the-home parent once a month or more was significantly higher than the self-esteem of those boys who saw their absent-from-the-home parent less than once a month.