Parental Education Level Positively Affects Self-Esteem of Turkish Adolescents

Abstract

Although the literature on self-esteem has a long and prolific history in Turkey regarding which demographics may influence the self-esteem of adolescents. The research findings are intricate and undermine the need of further research in Turkey. This cross-sectional study re-examined the effects of age, grade level and education level of  a mother and father, on the self-esteem of Turkish adolescents, in a substantially large sample. Participants were 2,213 adolescents (1085 boys, 1128 girls). Mean age of participants in this study was 12.76 (SD= 0.96). Participants were 6th, 7th, 8th grade students and recruited from 21 states and one private coeducational secondary school in Amasya. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) and Demographic ?nformation are used as data collection instruments. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical test employed to test statistical hypotheses. Results suggested that there were no significant differences in self-esteem scores according to age and grade level. However, there were significant differences in self-esteem scores with regard to the education level of the mother and the  father of these adolescents. These findings suggest that parental education level positively influences self-esteem of Turkish adolescents. The implications of these findings, especially for the guidance and counseling services in Turkish schools, and applications for professionals are discussed.

Keywords: Self-Esteem, Adolescents, Demographic Variables, Parental education, Turkey.