Self-esteem as a mediator between the quality of interpersonal relationships in the family and children's social acceptance by peers

The present study was conducted to examine whether the quality of interpersonal relationships in the family is predictive of later social acceptance by peers and to evaluate self-esteem as one mechanism by which interpersonal relationships in the family and social acceptance by peers might be related. No previous research has established whether self-esteem functions as a link between interpersonal relationships in the family and social acceptance by peers. Due to potential differences in socialization, race and gender were examined as possible moderators of the connection between interpersonal relationships in the family and children's social acceptance by peers mediated by self-esteem.; All participants were non-chronically-ill control participants from a larger study designed to investigate the impact of severe chronic illnesses on the psychosocial functioning of children and their families. Participants were 171 8- to 15-year-old children, their mothers and fathers, and classroom peers. The sample included data from 83 girls and 88 boys. Seventy-two participants were African American and 99 were European American. Data collection relevant to the present study occurred in three phases. During the first phase of data collection, Like-Rating Scale (Asher, Singleton, Tinsley, & Hymel, 1979) scores were collected in the classroom. In the second phase, participants were visited at their home where the Family Environment Scale (FES; Moos & Moos, 1986) was completed by the parents, and the Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985) was completed by the child. In the third phase, Like-Rating scores were collected again 1 1/2 to two years later in the classroom of each child participant.; The findings suggest that the quality of interpersonal relationships in the family is related to the child's self-esteem and is related to subsequent social acceptance by peers. The child's self-esteem is also related to subsequent social acceptance by peers. However, self-esteem does not appear to be an explanatory link in the relationship between the quality of interpersonal relationships in the family and subsequent social acceptance by peers. That self-esteem does not explain the connection between family and peer relationships appears to be true for boys and girls, for European Americans and African Americans.