BMC Psychology (Oct 2023)

What if parental love is conditional …? Children’s self-esteem profiles and their relationship with parental conditional regard and self-kindness

  • Malin Brueckmann,
  • Ziwen Teuber,
  • Jelena Hollmann,
  • Elke Wild

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01380-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 17

Abstract

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Abstract Background Numerous studies have demonstrated that low, unstable, or contingent self-esteem negatively affects youth development and is linked to adolescent psychopathology. However, most previous studies have applied variable-oriented approaches, and less is known about the natural combination of self-esteem facets in school-aged adolescents, how parental conditional regard affects self-esteem profiles, and how these profiles relate to self-kindness, self-judgement, and life satisfaction. Methods By employing a longitudinal person-oriented approach (i.e., latent profile analysis and latent transition analysis) on two-wave longitudinal data from 587 German secondary school students (52.3% female, M age=13.52 years), this study aims to (1) identify adolescents’ self-esteem profiles based on the level, stability, and contingency of self-esteem; (2) examine the impact of parental conditional regard on the self-esteem profiles explained using self-determination theory; and (3) examine these profiles’ relationship with self-kindness, self-judgement, and life satisfaction. Results Four self-esteem profiles were derived: optimal-secure (~ 8%), good (~ 18%), average (~ 36%), and low-insecure (~ 38%). The results reveal a concerningly high proportion as well as a high stability of low-insecure self-esteem (~ 98%) and indicate the strong negative influence of parental conditional regard on the development of optimal-secure self-esteem. Furthermore, the results demonstrate strong correlations between optimal-secure self-esteem, highly developed self-kindness, and high life satisfaction. Conclusions Using a longitudinal person-oriented approach, it was possible to identify a group with highly vulnerable self-esteem, characterised by particularly low self-kindness, strong self-judgment, and lower life satisfaction. The findings of this study support the need for prevention and intervention targeting adolescents with low-insecure self-esteem.

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