title: Peer acceptance protects global self-esteem from negative effects of low closeness to parents during adolescence and early adulthood.
abstract: Having a distant relationship with parents seems to increase the risk of developing a more negative global self-esteem. This article describes a longitudinal study of 1,090 Norwegian adolescents from the age of 13-23 (54 % males) that explored whether peer acceptance can act as a moderator and protect global self-esteem against the negative effects of experiencing low closeness in relationships with parents. A quadratic latent growth curve for global self-esteem with closeness to parents and peer acceptance as time-varying covariates was modeled, taking partial measurement invariance in global self-esteem into account. Peer acceptance was found to have a general protective effect on global self-esteem for all adolescents. In addition, at most ages, peer acceptance was found to have a protective-stabilizing effect on the relationship between closeness to parents and global self-esteem. This indicates that peer acceptance can be an especially valuable source of global self-esteem when closeness to parents is low.
authors: Department of Health Promotion and Development, The Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Postboks 7807, 5020, Bergen, Norway, marianne.s.birkeland@gmail.com.
authors: Marianne Skogbrott
authors: MS
authors: Birkeland
authors: Kyrre
authors: K
authors: Breivik
authors: Bente
authors: B
authors: Wold
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011581:Psychological Tests; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult