Residential mobility, social support and adolescent self-concept

The effects of residential relocation on children has been a topic of interest to social science researchers for decades. Early research attributed school phobias, classroom behavior problems, lack of academic success, and poor peer relationships to residential mobility. Although most current literature has disputed many of these early findings, a question remains regarding the relationship between self-concept and residential relocation. Significant negative findings have been found in previous studies of this relationship. This study attempts to expand the research in two ways: first, by providing a theoretical framework and, second, by testing the role of social support from parents and peers as a mediator in the relationship. The investigation benefits from theory on life events and stress which guides the analysis of mobility and self-concept in a sample of 205 students in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Findings indicate that social support attenuates a negative effect of mobility on specific measures of self-concept.