Self-esteem of five- and six-year-olds as a function of family versus individual self-esteem treatment

The purpose of this research was to determine how self-esteem is influenced in 5- and 6-year-olds. Self-esteem building exercises were used as a model in determining if self-esteem can actually be enhanced. Self-esteem building exercises involved children with 1-parent employed outside the home versus 2-parents employed outside the home. Participants included 120 5- and 6-year-old kindergarten children of multicultural ethnic backgrounds residing in central Florida. Subjects were stratified proportionally and randomly assigned to one of three groups (family, classroom/group, or control) for 10 weeks of self-esteem building exercises.; The Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Social Competency (KIDSc) provided an overall self-esteem score. An ANCOVA statistic procedure was used for data analysis in the random pretest/posttest control group design. The covariate was pretest scores on the KIDSc inventory.; Groups were used in executing self-esteem building exercises (first independent variable): Family Group--provided parents with a way to integrate their child into the daily activities. These exercises involved parents and children in interactive activities (i.e., reading, cooking, physical activities): Classroom Group--exercises involved daily activities for the teacher and student and centered on feelings and self-awareness: Control Group--received no treatment other than regular classroom activities. That is, subjects in this group did not participate in any of the research self-esteem building exercises. The classroom/group self-esteem building exercises were found to result in statistically significantly higher self-esteem scores than the family self-esteem building exercises or control group.; The second independent variable of one-or two-parents employed outside the home did not have a statistically significant influence upon the self-esteem of 5- and 6-year-olds. There was no interaction between self-esteem building exercises and the number of parents employed outside the home.; Results suggest that self-esteem can be enhanced through classroom/group self-esteem building exercises. Additionally, the results suggest the number of parents employed outside the home does not influence the self-esteem level of 5- and 6-year-old children.; Recommendations include replications of this study across diversified populations, age, and multicultural backgrounds in order to determine the strength of the self-esteem building exercises. In addition, it is recommended that parenting classes facilitated by a trained, professional counselor be integrated with family self-esteem building exercises. Additionally, the results of this study suggest the benefits of classroom/group self-esteem programs for younger children. The enhancement of self-esteem early in children's lives may decrease the number of dysfunctional adolescent disorders (juvenile delinquency, addictions, and conduct disorders).