The relation of age, gender, ethnicity, and risk behaviors to self-esteem among students in nonmainstream schools.

Connor, Jennifer M. ; Poyrazli, Senel ; Ferrer-Wreder, Laura 等

Self-esteem can be important in terms of how one thinks, feels, and responds to stressful life events (Overholser et al., 1995). Research has also shown a relation between low self-esteem and feelings of depression and hopelessness in adolescence. Females with low self-esteem are twice as likely to develop depression following a stressful life event than those with average or high self-esteem (Andrews, 1998). During adolescence, a person may experience increased stress in relation to school, friends, and family, as well as new responsibilities and interests (Overholser et al., 1995).

Many factors are related to self-esteem development in adolescence; previous research has focused on academic ability, social acceptance, body image, gender differences, school environment, media influences, socioeconomic status, relationship with family, age, and ethnicity (e.g., Phinney, Cantu, & Kurtz, 1997). For this study, the focus was on investigating self-esteem in relation to age, ethnicity, gender, and risk behaviors among students attending schools outside the mainstream educational system.

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND SELF-ESTEEM

An adolescent's environment, especially school, can have a significant influence on self-esteem development, with junior and senior high being critical years (Chubb et al., 1997). Junior high school has been shown to be an important transition time for an adolescent in terms of healthy self-esteem development (Eccles, Midgley, & Adler, 1984; Seidman, Aber, Allen, & French, 1996). In a relevant longitudinal study, it was found that adolescent self-esteem development may be disrupted by transition to a new school (junior high or high school) (Wigfield, Eccles, Mac Iver, Reuman, & Midgley, 1991). This finding could be related to the interruption of students' social networks at a time when friends and peers are important to adolescent development. Another study found that adolescents who remained in a stable school environment had a greater increase in level of self-esteem over an 18-month period than did adolescents who changed school environments (Cairns, McWhirter, Duffy, & Barry, 1990).

Nonmainstream Schools

Self-esteem among nonmainstream students is an important area for exploration because research has shown that some nonmainstream students are at increased risk for suicide attempts as compared to mainstream students (Grunbaum, Lowry, & Kann, 2001). Mainstream students are those who attend public schools within a school district. Nonmainstream schools, such as some alternative or charter schools--similar to the ones in this study--are designed for youth who are at risk for either delinquent behavior or poor academic performance (Cox, Davidson, & Bynum, 1995), although it should be noted that these schools can sometimes be for exceptional youth. Much of the current research on nonmainstream schools centers on outcome evaluation studies that document school efficacy on indices such as academic success. Yet, sometimes in such studies, little is reported about participating students' demographic characteristics, individual differences, and self-esteem levels.

An objective of some nonmainstream schools is to improve student retention among students at-risk for dropping out (Dugger & Dugger, 1998). Nonmainstream schools sometimes have smaller class sizes, student-to-teacher ratios, as well as self-paced instruction (Cox et al., 1995). In successful nonmainstream schools, staff members consider counseling students as a part of their job, follow up daily on absent students, model positive behaviors for students, and use individualized, hands-on curriculum, and goal-setting with students (Dugger & Dugger, 1998). Reilly and Reilly (1983) noted that nonmainstream programs, specifically alternative school programs, have been associated, in some instances, with increases in student self-esteem.

There is a dearth of studies that examine self-esteem in relation to nonmainstream school placement. In one study of a nonmainstream (alternative) school by Dugger and Dugger (1998), it was found that students had considerably low self-esteem. These researchers reported that self-esteem was related to academic competence and this is an area that should be improved in order for nonmainstream students to have higher self-esteem and feel more in control of their behaviors.

AGE AND SELF-ESTEEM

Findings on age as a predictor of self-esteem have been inconsistent. Several longitudinal studies (Bergman & Scott, 2001; Block & Robins, 1993; Chubb et al., 1997; Wade, Thompson, Tashakkori, & Valente, 1989) and a cross-sectional study (Mullis & Chapman, 2000) found that self-esteem levels remained constant with increased age, and therefore increased age was not a significant predictor of self-esteem. Other longitudinal research indicated a gradual increase in self-esteem across adolescence (Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987; Jones & Meredith, 1996; O'Malley & Bachman, 1983; Wigfield et al., 1991). Conversely, other studies have shown that self-esteem decreased over time during adolescence (Brown et al., 1998; Robins, Trzesniewski, Tracy, Gosling, & Potter, 2002). Robins and colleagues (2002) reported that self-esteem is highest during childhood, drops significantly during adolescence, and then increases again into adulthood. Age, as a predictor of self-esteem, has yielded many different findings. Thus, it may be useful to explore the relation between age and self-esteem in nonmainstream student samples in order to clarify this disparate knowledge base.

GENDER AND SELF-ESTEEM

Previous research on gender, in relation to self-esteem, has been fairly consistent. The majority of studies have found that during adolescence, females report lower self-esteem (Cairns et al., 1990; Chubb et al., 1997; Martinez & Dukes, 1991; Quatman & Watson, 2001) and greater depressive mood (Marcotte, Fortin, Potvin, & Papillon, 2002) in comparison to males. Some research has also shown that not only do adolescent females report lower self-esteem, but their self-esteem decreases and depressive symptoms increase over time when compared with males (e.g., Robins et al., 2002).

Maehr and Nicholls (1980) suggested that some gender differences in self-esteem might be due to a response bias, in that girls have been found to be more modest in self-report measures than boys. Furthermore, some research has shown that gender differences in adolescent self-esteem may be linked to gender differences in the perception of physical appearance. For example, a longitudinal study of students in the 3rd through 11th grades indicated that in elementary school, boys and girls viewed their physical appearance equally, but at the end of high school, girls' views of their physical appearance was significantly lower than those of boys (Harter, 2000). Brown and colleagues (1998) also found that European American boys rated themselves as more attractive and reported liking themselves better relative to European American girls. In addition, African American females were found to be as adjusted or better adjusted than European Americans, to generally feel satisfied with themselves, and to have high educational expectations (Gibbs, 1985). In conclusion, the available research consistently shows that males tend to have higher self-esteem than do females; therefore it is important to explore gender in relation to self-esteem among nonmainstream students.

RACE/ETHNICITY AND SELF-ESTEEM

Most of the research on the relation between ethnicity and self-esteem has found that African Americans report a higher level of self-esteem than do other ethnicities (Brown et al., 1998; Carlson, Uppal, & Prosser, 2000; Martinez & Dukes, 1991; Phinney et al., 1997). Because African Americans have consistently been shown to report the highest levels of self-esteem, Wade (1996) conducted a study to determine whether light or dark skin color among African Americans made a difference in their self-esteem. He hypothesized that females with light skin would report higher self-esteem, but found that light or dark skin color did not relate to self-esteem scores. He proposed that these findings could be a clue to participants' sense of Black consciousness or ethnic identity.

A few studies conflict with the majority of findings in terms of ethnicity and self-esteem (c.f. Robins et al., 2002). Thus, ethnicity may not be a significant predictor of self-esteem level in all cases (Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987; Wade et al., 1989). Wade and colleagues (1989), for instance, found that overall self-esteem remained fairly consistent between African Americans and European Americans, however there were ethnic differences in social attitudes and behavior, which in turn may have influenced self-esteem. It may be that the sources of self-esteem are different for African Americans and European Americans. For instance, for European Americans physical attractiveness is determined to be more important to self-esteem, while for African Americans, relationship with peers tends to be a more important (Wade, 1996). It therefore would be interesting to further explore relations between ethnicity and self-esteem in a nonmainstream school setting.

ADOLESCENT RISK BEHAVIORS AND SELF-ESTEEM

Previous studies have found that adolescents who do not engage in the consumption of alcohol have higher self-esteem than those who do (e.g., Butler, 1982). Yet, some studies indicate contradictory findings. In one investigation, adolescents who used alcohol had higher self-esteem than those who did not (DeSimone, Murray, & Lester, 1994).

Furthermore, adolescents in that study who used alcohol were more likely to have attempted suicide. Another study found that as an adolescent's self-esteem decreases over time, alcohol use increases (Scheier, Botvin, Griffin, & Diaz, 2000).

Research on sexual behavior, based on European American and African American participants, has shown no significant differences between sexually active males and females in relation to self-esteem (e.g., Robinson & Frank, 1994). However, other research indicates that males and females with higher self-esteem have more sexual partners than do those with low self-esteem (Walsh, 1991). In addition, younger adolescents and adolescents with higher levels of self-esteem may be less likely to engage in sexual risk behaviors (Belgrave, Van Oss Marin, & Chambers, 2000). In summary, the research literature on self-esteem and youth risk behaviors is disparate. Research has shown that risk behaviors both increase and decrease with high self-esteem. At-risk adolescents in nonmainstream schools are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors than are mainstream school students (Cox et al., 1995). It is therefore important to explore the relation between self-esteem and risk behavior in an at-risk and nonmainstream student sample.

PREDICTIONS

Based on the literature, four predictions were made in regard to the relation of self-esteem to age, gender, ethnicity, and adolescent risk behaviors. First, it was predicted that younger students in nonmainstream schools would have lower self-esteem than older students. Second, it was predicted that males in the nonmainstream school population would have higher self-esteem than females. Third, it was predicted that African Americans would have the highest self-esteem in this sample. Finally, it was predicted that nonmainstream students with a higher level of self-esteem would engage in sexual behavior, while those with a lower level of self-esteem would engage more frequently in alcohol and drug use.

METHOD

Design and Participants

The data presented in this study were collected as a part of a larger investigation by the Pennsylvania State University-Alternative School (PSU-ALT) research team. This study had a cross-sectional, exploratory design. The sample included 149 nonmainstream students (50% female, 50% male) from two different schools. Sixty-two participants were students at a charter school, and 87 were enrolled at an alternative school. At the charter school, 61.1% of the students were female and 38.9% were male. At the alternative school, 43.9% were female and 67.1% were male. In terms of ethnicity across the sample, 52% of the students were African American, 30% Latino, 9% biethnic, 6% other, and 3% White, non-Hispanic. Only African Americans and Latinos were analyzed in this study due to the small number of students in the other ethnic groups. At the charter school, 91% of the students were Latino and 9% were African American. At the alternative school, 93% of the students were African American and 7% Latino.

This study examined 6th- to 12th-grade students (see Table 1 for a distribution of the sample by grade level). The mean age for the alternative school students was 15.87. The mean age for the charter school students was 15.17.

Measures

Demograpic Questionnaire. A demographic questionnaire was used to obtain background information from the students. It was comprised of questions pertaining to students' age, gender, and ethnicity.

Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A modified version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) was used to measure students' self-esteem. The scale includes ten items rated on a 4-point Likert-type scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." Possible scores range from 10 to 40, with 40 indicating the highest level of self-esteem. Research examining the reliability of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale generally has reported the instrument to be psychometrically sound; test-retest reliability was found to be .85 after a two-week interval and .82 after a one-week interval (Fleming & Courtney, 1984). Marcotte et al. (2002) reported a Cronbach's alpha of .88. Cronbach's alpha was .83 in the present study, indicating that the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was an internally reliable measure in this nonmainstream student sample.

National Alternative High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (ALTYRB). This questionnaire was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1998 and is used to examine risk behaviors within charter school populations (Grunbaum et al., 1999). Research examining the reliability of the ALT-YRB has thus far found the survey to be psychometrically sound for administration with alternative school students (Brener et al., 1995). The questions pertained to age at first alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine and other drug use, age at first sexual intercourse, and number of sexual partners.

Procedure

Signed consent forms from both students and parent/legal guardians were obtained. Students were administered the surveys in their schools.

RESULTS

Correlational Analyses

The means and standard deviations for the interval variables analyzed in this study are reported in Table 2. Because this was an exploratory study, a Pearson's product moment correlation analysis was used to determine the correlation between self-esteem, age, gender, ethnicity, and risk behaviors (Table 3).

Results related to school differences indicated that the correlation between self-esteem and school attended was significant (r = .18, p < .05), showing that the students at the alternative school had higher levels of self-esteem than those at the charter school. There was also a significant positive correlation between school attended and age at first sexual experience (r = .30, p < .001), indicating that students at the alternative school were more likely to engage in sexual behavior later in life, but have more sexual partners (r = .43, p < .001).

Other correlational analyses showed that self-esteem and age at first experience with marijuana were positively correlated (r = .23, p < .001), indicating that the higher the self-esteem of the adolescent, the later in life he or she began to use marijuana. A similar positive correlation was found for sexual behavior when correlated with age at first experience and self-esteem (r = .22, p < .001). This result revealed that students with higher levels of self-esteem are more likely to engage in sexual intercourse later in life. Remaining analyses for self-esteem indicated that age, gender, and ethnicity were not correlated with self-esteem.

In regard to ethnicity, results indicated that age at first sexual experience was positively correlated with ethnicity (r = .28, p < .001), as well as number of sexual partners (r = .38, p < .001), indicating that African American students reported having sex at a later age, but also 'having more sexual partners than did Latino students.

DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between self-esteem, age, gender, ethnicity, and risk behaviors in a nonmainstream student population. It was hypothesized that younger students in the nonmainstream sample would have lower self-esteem than older students. The analyses, however, showed that age was not significantly correlated with self-esteem in this student sample. This finding is consistent with some previous research (e.g., Bergman & Scott, 2001; Block & Robins, 1993; Chubb et al., 1997; Mullis & Chapman, 2000; Wade et al., 1989), but conflicts with other research that found either significant positive (e.g., Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987; Jones & Meredith, 1996; O'Malley & Bachman, 1983; Wigfield et al., 1991) or negative correlations (e.g., Brown et al., 1998; Robins et al., 2002) between self-esteem and age.

In regard to gender, it was hypothesized that males in the nonmainstream population would have higher self-esteem than would females due to the consistency of this finding in previous research with mainstream students. The correlation between gender and self-esteem for this sample, however, was not significant. This finding contradicts previous research with mainstream students (e.g., Cairns et al., 1990; Chubb et al., 1997; Martinez & Dukes, 1991; Quatman & Watson, 2001), which has shown that females report significantly lower self-esteem than do males. An interesting and unexpected finding is that females and males do not have significant differences in self-esteem within this nonmainstream student sample. It is possible that the number of participants may have influenced the fact that gender was not significant for this sample. In addition, this finding could have been different if other ethnicities besides Latino and African Americans were included in the analyses because it has been found that African American adolescent females are as adjusted or more adjusted than European American adolescent females (Gibbs, 1985). Future research should include European Americans and continue to examine the relation between gender and self-esteem in nonmainstream school settings to determine if the results found in this study are consistent within this population.

African American students were hypothesized to have the highest level of self-esteem. This hypothesis was based on past research (e.g., Brown et al., 1998; Carlson et al., 2000; Martinez & Dukes, 1991; Phinney et al., 1997), in which African Americans reported higher levels of self-esteem than did members of other ethnicities, including Latinos. The results in this study did not indicate a significant correlation between ethnicity and self-esteem. Significant school differences were found in this study, however it cannot be implied that this was a result of ethnic differences because the correlation between ethnicity and self-esteem level was not significant. However, in each school a different ethnic group was in the majority and this may well influence levels of self-esteem. Future research should look into this issue.

There could be several factors involved in the school differences in self-esteem. For one, the Alternative School is approximately six to seven times larger than the charter school. The large size of the alternative school could offer the students more of a sense of "normalcy," in that many other students share the same academic situation. The students at the charter school, on the other hand, may believe that they are more unique in their smaller school setting.

Another factor in the school differences in self-esteem could be that the alternative school offers structured programs, psychoeducational groups, and counseling for their students. This school uses a curriculum-based counseling intervention in which all students, regardless of whether they have behavioral/mental health issues, must participate. Thus, structured psychoeducational group counseling is part of the school curriculum. Groups focus on social skills development, such as anger management, decision making, impulse control, and peer interactions. In addition, some students receive individual counseling, which addresses specific issues that relate to their referral to the school. The charter school, on the other hand, does not use a similar model, nor does it have structured psychoeducational groups for students. As the literature reports, such structured programs and interventions are also likely to increase self-esteem (e.g., Keating et al., 2002). Moreover, at the alternative school, each of the students is assigned to an individual caseworker, which may also be a factor in the students' higher level of self-esteem. The duty of the individual caseworker is to monitor the students' attendance, progress, and behavior. This one-on-one supervision and support could be beneficial to the students at the alternative school and might explain the school differences in self-esteem. The charter school does not employ individual caseworkers to provide one-on-one support and monitoring aside from the teachers. Because this is an exploratory cross-sectional study and not an outcome evaluation study, programmatic influences, while possible, should be regarded with great caution.

Other non-programmatic factors not measured in this particular study could also explain the school differences in self-esteem. For example, environmental issues, such as socioeconomic status, family relations, and second language barriers may be factors that could contribute to the difference in self-esteem level between students within the two schools. Many students at the charter school speak Spanish as their first language and/or in the home with their families, whereas very few students at the alternative school speak a language other than English as their first language. Second-language barriers would be an important area for future research because students who may not feel comfortable with the language spoken in the broader community as well as in an educational setting, may have difficulty with comprehension, and therefore feel less confident about themselves.

As previous research shows, there are no conclusive findings on self-esteem because it is a complicated construct. Some findings indicate that a high self-esteem level is beneficial to adolescents, especially in the school environment (e.g., Cairns et al., 1990; Eccles et al., 1984; Seidman et al., 1996). While the research literature on the subject is generally disparate, some studies do show that high self-esteem may not be positive for adolescents in terms of engaging in risk behaviors. For example, adolescents with high self-esteem may be more likely to have more sexual partners (e.g., Walsh, 1991) and engage in alcohol use (e.g., DeSimone et al., 1994). Further, the results of our study indicated that adolescents with a higher level of self-esteem were more likely to report engaging in marijuana use and sexual behavior later in life. Future research should continue exploring the concept of self-esteem to determine if high self-esteem, is in fact, positive for adolescents in all situations. Thus, it cannot be concluded that a self-esteem building program alone would be beneficial to students. When more descriptive and intervention research is conducted on self-esteem in the nonmainstream student population, more programming and different types of interventions can be suggested for improving alternative and charter school programs. However, it should be noted that self-esteem building could be useful in conjunction with other skill and knowledge-based psychoeducational groups.

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

Since this was a correlational study, no causations can be assumed regarding self-esteem. Generalization is also limited because the study was conducted with nonmainstream students. It cannot be assumed that all alternative/charter school students are similar to the students in this sample. Future research might conduct a similar study on self-esteem within a nonmainstream population and utilize a comparison group of mainstream students in order to examine self-esteem in the two student populations. In addition, the length of stay at the current school was not measured in this sample, which may have had an impact on the level of students's self-esteem. Future research should consider measuring length of stay in a nonmainstream school in relation to student self-esteem.

The results of this study indicated that African American participants were at higher risk for having sexual intercourse with more partners than were Latino students. However, Latino students were more likely to engage in their first sexual experience at an earlier age than were African American students. It must not be overlooked that this finding could be attributed to response bias, where one ethnic group may feel more comfortable reporting how many sexual partners they have had (i.e., African Americans in this study), or feel more comfortable reporting the age at which they first engaged in sexual intercourse (i.e., Latinos in this study). Response bias between the two ethnic groups is not measured in this study and should be considered for future research.

Although this study examined ethnicity in relation to self-esteem, it did not examine ethnic identity. One suggestion for future research is to examine ethnic identity in relation to self-esteem. Another variable of interest within a nonmainstream population is socioeconomic status (SES). SES would be interesting to analyze in relation to self-esteem in such a sample because previous research has been conflicting, and there is no current research literature on SES in nonmainstream student populations. Moreover, the present study examined students' risk behaviors, but did not examine many other factors that influence these behaviors. Further research could explore these factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-esteem can be related to an adolescent's healthy development. Little research has been conducted on self-esteem within nonmainstream student samples. Self-esteem is a complex construct that has been shown to be both positive and negative under different conditions in an adolescent's life. It is important to continue research on self-esteem to determine if high self-esteem actually increases the success of an adolescent within a nonmainstream educational setting in terms of both success in school and the reduced prevalence of risk behaviors. This study showed that nonmainstream students who had high self-esteem were more likely to engage in their first sexual experience and marijuana use later in life. In order for more suggestions to be made for interventions to improve nonmainstream school programs, future descriptive research should continue with nonmainstream school students. Furthermore, intervention trials that disaggregate the programmatic elements of successful multi-component interventions that include self-esteem building would also further program development in alternative and charter schools.

Table 1

Distribution of Students by School and Grade (Percentages)

 Grade

School 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Charter 13.5 13.5 21.2 13.5 15.4 9.6 13.5
Alternative 11.7 28.3 3.3 18.3 13.3 18.3 6.7

Total 12.5 21.4 11.6 16.1 14.3 14.3 9.8

Table 2

Means and Standard Deviations for the Interval Variables

 n M SD Range

Self-esteem 148 29.89 5.71 13-40

Age 131 15.46 2.03 12-20

Number of Sexual 136 3.10 2.34 1-8
Partners

Table 3

Bivariate Correlations

 School Age Gender Ethn. Mari.

Age -.17 *
Gender .18 * -.07
Ethn. .84 ** -.13 .09
Mari. .17 .32 ** -.09 .13
Sex Exp. .30 ** .36 ** .02 .28 ** .50 **
S. P. .43 ** .12 .33 ** .38 ** .28 **
S-E .18 * .04 -.04 .15 .23 **
Alc. -.01 .31 ** -.03 .44 ** .29 **
Other .13 .01 -.02 .14 .09

 Sex Exp. S.P. S-E Alc.

Age
Gender
Ethn.
Mari.
Sex Exp.
S. P. .47 **
S-E .22 ** .16
Alc. .36 ** .36 ** .05
Other .02 -.04 -.10 .09

Note. Ethn.: ethnicity (African American or Latino); Mari.: age at
first marijuana use; Sex Exp.: age at first sexual experience; S.P.:
number of sexual partners; S-E: self-esteem level; Alc.: age at first
alcohol use; Other: age at first cocaine and other drug use.

* P < .05,

** P < .01

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance and guidance of the faculty, staff, and students at the schools in which this study was conducted. Thanks are also given to Ernest K. Dishner and members of the Pennsylvania State University-Alternative School (PSU-ALT) group for their support of this study. Partial support for this project was provided through funding from the Penn State Children Youth and Families Consortium.

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All authors are affiliated with the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, the Pennsylvania State University, Capital College.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Senel Poyrazli, School of Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State Capital College, Middletown, PA 17057. E-mail: poyrazli@psu.edu