Date of Award
Spring 6-14-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Kathryn Grant, PhD
Second Advisor
Jocelyn Carter, PhD
Abstract
Adolescents are exposed to many stressful life experiences, such as major illnesses, the death of a family member, school stressors, peer pressures, conflict with parents, and more. Minoritized youth are exposed to even greater numbers of stressors, including those connected to racism, segregation, and poverty. This study aims to examine the relationship between stressful life experiences and self-esteem and explore protective factors that may protect minoritized individuals from the negative effects of stress on self-esteem. This study also builds upon literature that shows that Black youth report higher self-esteem than White youth, even while being exposed to higher levels of stress. A representative sample of adolescents from Chicago, Illinois was selected to take part in an extensive study exploring the effects of stress. They completed questionnaires about stress (Urban Adolescent Life Experiences Scale), self-esteem (Negative Self-Esteem Subscale of the Child Depression Inventory), spirituality (items from the Response to Stress Questionnaire, and Post-Traumatic Growth and Places I Spend Time surveys), and kinship (Family Relationships Survey), along with demographic questions that included questions about race. Black youth reported higher self-esteem and greater spirituality at Time 1. Stress was positively correlated with negative self-esteem and negatively correlated with kinship. Kinship and spirituality were negatively correlated with negative self-esteem. Kinship and spirituality were positively correlated with each other. Longitudinal analyses revealed associations between Time 1 negative self-esteem and Time 2 negative self-esteem, but there were no significant associations between stress and negative self-esteem or between any of the protective factors and negative self-esteem over time. Given significant attrition between Time 1 and Time 2 and the significant associations among variables consistent with hypotheses, analyses were re-tested with cross-sectional data. Results revealed that both kinship and spirituality attenuate the relationship between stress and negative self-esteem. These findings may help explain why Black youth report higher self-esteem than White youth despite greater stress exposure. Directions for future research and implications for practice are provided.
Recommended Citation
Towns, Takayla Christine, "Explaining the Paradox of High Self-Esteem in Black Youth Exposed to Stress: The Protective Role of Kinship and Spirituality" (2024). College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations. 521.
https://via.library.depaul.edu/csh_etd/521
SLP Collection
no