The role of youth's ratings of the importance of socially supportive behaviors in the relationship between social support and self-concept.
The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the perceived frequency and perceived importance of social support with youth's self-concept. Data from a large representative sample of 921 children and adolescents in grades 3 through 12 were analyzed. Results indicated that the relationships between the frequency of social support from parents, teachers, classmates, and close friends with self-concept were significant. However, only the perceived importance of social support from teachers was significantly related to self-concept. Finally, an interaction was found between the frequency of social support and the importance of social support from classmates and close friends on self-concept. These results suggest that self-evaluations of the importance of teacher support may be especially influential for youths' self-concept, and that the ability to discount the value of support from classmates and friends, when it is lacking, may be protective to the self-concept of children and adolescents.
Demaray
Michelle Kilpatrick
MK
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA. mkdemaray@niu.edu
Malecki
Christine Kerres
CK
Rueger
Sandra Yu
SY
Brown
Sarah E
SE
Summers
Kelly Hodgson
KH
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D011582:Psychological Theory; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States