The Five-scale Test of Self-Esteem for Children: A questionnaire for assessing multidimensional self-esteem
Marina Cavallero, Mario Di Pietro, Ilaria Lupo, Gian Marco Marzocchi
The multidimensional assessment of self-esteem in childhood and adolescence proves to be very useful in the research field and has important implications in clinical practice. The Five-Scale Test of Self-Esteem for Children questionnaire is widely used in international research, examining four sub-dimensions of general self-esteem: academic, body, family, and social self-esteem. This study aims to illustrate the psychometric characteristics and the calibration of the Italian version of the questionnaire and to investigate whether factors such as age, gender and socio-demographic family variables have an effect on the sub-dimensions of self-esteem. The present cross-sectional study involved a sample of 1004 children and adolescents ranging from 8 to 20 years of age (mean age 12.71 ± 3.13, males 49.3%). The Five-Scale Test of Self-Esteem for Children questionnaire showed good psychometric properties (factorial analysis and internal consistency). Males reported higher levels of general and body self-esteem than females. Primary school children scored higher than older students on every dimension, except for social self-esteem. Academic self-esteem is the dimension most affected by socio-demographic variables.
Keywords
Self-esteem, Self-assessment, Questionnaire, Children, Adolescents.
