A Longitudinal Investigation of Sports Participation, Peer Acceptance, and Self-esteem among Adolescent Girls and Boys Elizabeth Daniels Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles Campbell Leaper University of California, Santa Cruz

Hypothesis The relationship between sports participation and global self-esteem would be mediated by the judgments of peer acceptance. Anticipated that hypothesized model would apple to both genders. Looked at relationship over time in a longitudinal dataset.

DESIGN

Method – Sample Longitudinal data collected at two time points (T1 and T2) between 1994 and 1996 Subjects from 80 high schools and 52 junior highs across the United States Systematic sampling methods and implicit stratification were employed to ensure that the schools selected were representative of US schools with respect to: Region , urbanicity, size, type, and ethnicity

Method Independent Variable – Sports Participation,Self Esteem, Peer Acceptance Dependent Variable – Scores on the Survey and Interviews

Method In total 119,233 adolescents were eligible for the study 90,119 students completed the in-school survey and also participated in an in-depth interview 10,500 participants who did the survey and interview also completed items that addressed the three variables of interest Sport Participation Global Self-esteem Peer acceptance

Method Girls: 4,689 -Age range 12-20 years with mean of 15.43 (SD-1.59) Boys: 5,811 – Age range 12-21 years with mean of 15.78 (SD-1.68)

Measures Global Self Esteem - measured using the mean of four items such as “ I have a lot of good qualities”. Rated on a 5-point scale: 1 – strongly disagree to 5-strongly agree Sports Participation – measured by responses to the question “During the past week, how many times did you play an active sport, such as baseball, softball, basketball, soccer, hockey, or football?, Response options ranged from not at all to 5 or more times a week. Perceived peer acceptance- measured by responses such as “I feel socially accepted” and “I feel close to people at school” Used a scale using 1-strongly disagree to 5-strongly agree

Procedure One 45-60-min class period was designated for completion of the in-school survey. Parents were notified and could decline participation and students who were absent weren’t included in the study A subset of the sample was administered an additional 90-min in-home interview Only the students who completed the in home interview and met other criteria were selected for analysis in the present investigation

Results Boys had significantly higher levels of T1 sport participation, T1 global self-esteem, and T2 global self esteem than girls did. Girls’ and Boys’ levels of T1 peer acceptance were not significantly different. The results from the mediational tests indicate that the relation between sports participation and global self-esteem is partially dependent on peer acceptance. The Model held for both girls and boys.

Discussion As predicated, peer acceptance did indeed mediate the relationship between sport participation and global self-esteem. Built on the work of Richman and Shaffer (2000) who also found domain specific aspects of self-concept mediated the association between sport participation and self-esteem.

Discussion

Problems that I would change The measure didn’t distinguish between regular versus sporadic play Only included certain sports in the study and didn’t include alternative sports Self-report system There are many more things in life that can make you have a high self esteem than just sports