Self-esteem in adolescence

Strong evidence links positive and negative features of adolescent friendship to
adjustment outcomes. However, the majority of these studies adopt a variable-oriented
approach, which can obscure differences between subgroups. This study used a
person-oriented approach to examine the patterns of friendship quality and their
association with adolescent adjustment outcomes. To this end , both members of 88
stable friendships reported on the quality of their relationship and target adolescents
reported on their adjustment (behavior problems, friendship competence, scholastic
competence, behavioral conduct, global self-worth, and school grades) at both Grade 6
and Grade 7. K-means cluster analyses identified three distinct patterns in friendship
quality at both Grade 6 and Grade 7: /ow positivity, high negativity, and high quality.
These groups exhibited structural stability. The high negativity group and the high
quality group both exhibited interindividual stability. Person-oriented analyses indicated
adolescents in the high quality group tended to have the best adjustment outcomes,
whereas adolescents in the high negativity group tended to have the worst adjustment
outcomes. Additionally, person-oriented analyses indicated that adolescents whose friendships increased in quality also tended to report increased friendship competence.
Adolescents whose friendships decreased in quality tended to report decreased global
self-worth . Supplemental variable-oriented analyses generally complemented the
findings of the person-oriented analyses. Overall, these findings suggest that many
adolescents have enduring friendships that are less than ideal. Moreover, different low
quality friendships have different associations with adjustment. These findings also
suggest that friendships may not have pervasive influence on adjustment outcomes.
Specifically, friendship quality appears to be strongly associated with behavior
problems, friendship competence, and self-esteem.

This study of 91 dyads investigated concurrent and prospective bidirectional
associations between friendship quality and psychosocial adjustment in young
adolescents, using multiple-group structural equation modeling to detect gender
differences. Friend reports ofboth positive (social support) and negative features of
friendship, self-reports of two adjustment variables (internalizing problems and
externalizing problems), and self-reports of three dimensions of self-esteem (global selfworth,
behavioral conduct esteem, and close friendship esteem) were examined at two
time periods approximately one year apart. Principal findings were that grade 6
friendship negativity was inversely associated with grade 7 self-esteem, and positively
associated with grade 7 internalizing problems and externalizing problems, in the boys'
model but not girls' model. Chi-square difference testing confirmed a significant
difference between these paths in the girls' model and these paths in the boys' model.

Adolescents are experimenting with body art such as tattoos and body piercing, despite documented medical risks. Nurses are in a key position to formulate appropriate educational and counseling strategies to minimize the complications associated with these practices. Low self esteem has been linked to poor health behaviors and harmful life style choices in adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine how self esteem differed between adolescents engaging in body art and those who do not. A non experimental, descriptive research design utilizing the Coopersmith Self Esteem Inventory was used to evaluate self esteem in a group of 53 tattooed/body pierced, and 53 non-tattooed/body pierced high school students. Results indicated that a significantly lower self esteem was characteristic of the body art group.

This thesis examined relations of multiple dimensions of gender identity same gender typicality, other-gender typicality, gender contentedness, gender oppression, felt pressure to conform, and gender centrality) to children's adjustment (global self-worth, narcissism, depression, internalizing behaviors, externalizing behaviors, and prosocial behaviors. Participants were 237 fourth through eighth graders (108 males, 129 females; M[underscore] age = 11 years, 4 months). Each measure of gender identity related to children's adjustment in a unique way. Findings also showed gender centrality to moderate relations of other gender identity variables to adjustment, suggesting that how central gender is to a child influences the impact of other gender self-appraisals on the child's development and adjustment.

This study examined the consequences of self-image failure among narcissistic children. It was hypothesized that narcissistic children who perceive themselves as falling short of their hoped-for grandiose self (e.g., whose self-esteem is low) would not only increase over time in general aggression and decrease prosocial behavior, but also increase in the tendency to direct aggression specifically toward more socially successful peers (i.e., their putative rivals for social status). Participants were 195 (101 boys) fourth through seventh-graders who were tested in both the fall and the spring of a school year. Results yielded some support for the hypotheses. Narcissism combined with low self-appraisals of the real self to predict decreases in prosocial behavior and increased aggression toward popular and attractive peers. These findings not only provide longitudinal evidence for the self-image failure hypothesis but also underscore the importance of a target-specific approach to investigating children's aggression.