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Global and dimensional self‐esteem in preadolescent and early adolescent children who are overweight: Age and gender differences
Author(s) -
Israel Allen C.,
Ivanova Masha Y.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.10048
Subject(s) - overweight , self esteem , psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , self concept , human physical appearance , competence (human resources) , obesity , clinical psychology , medicine , social psychology , psychiatry
Objective To examine age and gender differences in global and dimensional self‐esteem in children who are overweight. Method As part of a pretreatment assessment, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children was completed by 121 children (ages 8–14) who were overweight and enrolling in a weight reduction program. Results Gender differences in general self‐esteem and age differences in physical self‐esteem were found. Also, girls who were highly overweight reported lower physical self‐esteem than girls who were moderately overweight. However, for boys, the opposite pattern emerged. For both boys and girls, cognitive and social self‐esteem predicted general self‐esteem and physical self‐esteem did not. Discussion Children who are overweight may emphasize dimensions of their self‐esteem in nongender stereotyped ways that are protective of their general self‐esteem. Understanding developmental trends and gender differences in self‐esteem can enhance our ability to assist youth who are overweight in maintaining favorable self‐evaluations. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 31: 424–429, 2002.