Self-Esteem in Children as a Function of Perceived Parental Behavior

Shortened versions of Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory, SEI (Coopersmith, 1967) and Schaefer's Children's Report of Parental Behavior Inventory, CRPBI (Schaefer, 1965a, 1965b) were administered to 126 fifth- and sixthgrade children. The mean levels of SEI and CRPBI scores for both parents were similar, as were the patterns of intercorrelations among these variables. A multiple regression analysis confirmed a similar pattern of CRPBI predictors to the SEI for both boys and girls, with Acceptance and granting of psychological autonomy (Control) being the key predictors. An analysis of combined perceptions suggested that boys who perceived both parents as high in acceptance had significantly higher SEI scores than those who perceived both parents as low in acceptance. Boys who perceived both parents as lax in discipline had higher SEI scores than those reporting firm discipline. In contrast, the Control factor was significant for girls but not for boys. Girls who perceived both parents as high in granting psychological autonomy scored significantly higher on the SEI than those reporting both parents as low on this factor.