Psychopathological symptoms, behavioural problems, and selfconcept/self-esteem: A study of adolescents aged 14 to 17 years old

Abstract

The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1) to evaluate the existence of gender differences in self-concept/self-esteem, 2) to study the concomitant relationships between psychopathological symptoms, behavioural problems, and self esteem/self-concept, and 3) to identify the predictive variables of high self concept and self-esteem. The sample consists of 322 adolescents aged 14 to 17 years old (53.4% boys, 45.3% girls). This study uses correlational methodology. In order to assess psychopathological symptoms (somatization, obsession compulsion, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, melancholic depression), behavioural problems (problems at school, antisocial behaviour, shyness and timidity, psychopathological problems, anxiety, psychosomatic problems, social adjustment), and self-concept/self-esteem the following form and scales are used: form SCL-90-R, the EPC Behavioural Problems Scale, the AF-5 Self-Concept Scale and the Rosenberg Selfesteem Scale. ANOVAs show higher scores of self esteem in boys. However, there are no gender differences in global self-concept. Pearson coefficients suggest that adolescents with high-self concept and high self-esteem have a low level of psychopathological symptoms and behavioural problems. Multiple regression analyses allow to identify the following variables as predictive of selfconcept/self-esteem: few depression symptoms, few problems at school, and few symptoms of interpersonal sensitivity. The role played by intervention programs promoting self-concept and self-esteem in the prevention of psychopathological and behavioural problems is also discussed.