Abstract
The current study explored parental processes associated with children's global self-esteem development. Eighty 5- to 13-year-olds and one of their parents provided qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires, open-ended questions, and a laboratory-based reminiscing task. Parents who included more explanations of emotions when writing about the lowest points in their lives were more likely to discuss explanations of emotions experienced in negative past events with their child, which was associated with child attachment security. Attachment was associated with concurrent self-esteem, which predicted relative increases in self-esteem 16 months later, on average. Finally, parent support also predicted residual increases in self-esteem. Findings extend prior research by including younger ages and uncovering a process by which two theoretically relevant parenting behaviors impact self-esteem development.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1810-1822 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Child Development |
| Volume | 88 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant 1650042. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We would like to thank Kate McLean, Robyn Fivush, Elaine Reese, and Qi Wang for feedback on prior versions of this article and/or study design. We would also like to thank all the families who participated in this research project as well as the countless research assistants and coders who have contributed their time over the years.