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First published August 2007

Self-Esteem: Assessing Measurement Equivalence in a Multiethnic Sample of Youth

Marcia L. Michaels, Alicia Barr, Mark W. Roosa, and George P. KnightView all authors and affiliations
Volume 27, Issue 3
https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431607302009

Abstract

Global self-worth and five domains of self-esteem (scholastic competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, social acceptance) were tested for measurement equivalence in a sample of Anglo American, Mexican American, African American, and Native American youth aged 9 through 14 years. The results revealed that global self-worth and scholastic competence showed strong factorial invariance in all groups, and the remaining self-esteem domains showed strong factorial invariance in some of the groups. Functional equivalence analyses revealed that the relations between self-esteem and two developmental outcome variables, conduct disorder and attitudes toward substance use, were similar in groups in which strong factorial invariance was established. Implications for multiethnic studies and self-esteem research are discussed.

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Published In

Volume 27, Issue 3
Pages: 269 - 295
Article first published: August 2007
Issue published: August 2007

Keywords

  1. self-esteem
  2. ethnicity
  3. measurement equivalence
  4. conduct disorder
  5. substance use

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Authors

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Marcia L. Michaels
Iowa State University, [email protected].
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Alicia Barr
South Plains College
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Mark W. Roosa
Arizona State University
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George P. Knight
Arizona State University
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