title: Do Parents Foster Self-Esteem? Testing the Prospective Impact of Parent Closeness on Adolescent Self-Esteem.
abstract: Close parent-child relationships are viewed as important for the development of global self-esteem. Cross-sectional research supports this hypothesis, but longitudinal studies provide inconsistent prospective effects. The current study uses data from Germany (N = 982) and the United States (N = 451) to test longitudinal relations between parent-child closeness and adolescent self-esteem. The authors used self-, parent-, and observer-reported parent-child closeness and self-reported self-esteem from ages 12 to 16. Results replicated concurrent correlations found in the literature, but six longitudinal models failed to show prospective relations. Thus, the longitudinal effect of parent-child closeness and self-esteem is difficult to detect with adolescent samples. These findings suggest the need for additional theorizing about influences on adolescent self-esteem development and longitudinal research with younger samples.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gruenenfelder-Steiger
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M University.
authors.forename: M Brent
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Donnellan
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Allemand
authors.affiliation: University of Zurich.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fend
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: Rand D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Conger
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis.
authors.forename: Kali H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Trzesniewski