The Longitudinal Association Between Self-Esteem and Social Relationships Among Chinese Adolescents: Roles of Developmental Stages and Gender

There is robust evidence that social relationships are positively associated with self-esteem, but little is known about how changes in social relationships and self-esteem are associated within individuals. This longitudinal study examined the within-person association between social relationships and self-esteem and the association across developmental stages and gender. A total of 1,240 middle and high school Chinese students (636 girls; initial Mage = 13.4 years) completed measures of self-esteem and paternal, maternal, peer attachment, and teacher-student relationship three times over one year (five-month and six-month interval). Random intercept cross-lagged panel models indicated that bidirectional, within-person association between social relationships and self-esteem among adolescents varied depending on relationship sources, developmental stages, and gender. Specifically, within-person effects indicated that increases in social relationships predicted increases in self-esteem among early adolescents, while increases in self-esteem predicted increases in social relationships among middle adolescents. Moreover, within-person effects suggested that increases in maternal attachment and teacher-student relationship predicted increases in self-esteem among early male adolescents, while increases in teacher-student relationships and paternal attachment predicted increases in self-esteem among early female adolescents. These findings have important theoretical implications regarding the association between self-esteem and social relationships in adolescents and practical implications for improving adolescents’ self-esteem and social relationships.