How Valid Are Measures of Children’s Self-Concept/ Self-Esteem? Factors and Content Validity in Three Widely Used Scales

Children’s self-esteem/self-concept, a core psychological construct, has been measured in an overwhelming number of studies, and the widespread use of such measures should indicate they have well-established content validity, internal consistency and factor structures. This study, sampling a demographically representative cohort in late childhood/early adolescence in Dublin, Ireland (total n = 651), examined three major self-esteem/self-concept scales designed for late childhood/early adolescence: Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale for Children 2 (Piers et al. 2002), Self-Description Questionnaire I (Marsh 1992) and Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter 1985). It also examined findings in light of the salient self factors identified by participants in a linked mixed-methods study. The factor structure of Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale was not replicated. The Self-Description Questionnaire I and Self-Perception Profile for Children were replicated only in part although in similar ways. In all three scales, a global/ appearance self evaluation factor accounted for the largest variance in factor analyses. Sport/athletic ability, school ability, school enjoyment, maths and reading ability/enjoyment, behaviour, peer popularity, and parent factors were also identified but did not always reflect existing scale structures. Notably, the factors extracted, or items present in these scales, often did not reflect young people’s priorities, such as friendship over popularity, the importance of family and extended family members, and the significance of incremental personal mastery in activities rather than assessing oneself as comparatively good at preferred activities. The findings raise questions about how self-esteem/self-concept scales are used and interpreted in research with children and young people

Gendering, courtship and pay equality: developing attraction theory to understand work-life balance and entrepreneurial activity

Objectives: This paper examines one of the most intractable problems of the last 40 years: the difficulty in closing the pay inequality gap. Current wisdom is that the pay gap exists because of men's power to control the workplace, and men's dominant position in society generally. This paper examines an emergent literature on matriarchal power structures and proposes Attraction Theory as a holistic framework. Prior Work: This paper acknowledges a range of feminist literature that examines the underlying social relations and power structures that impact on pay differentials. This is critiqued on the basis of findings from courtship research as well as studies emerging from liberal / progressive writers in the men's movement. Approach: This paper is conceptual, using an inter-disciplinary understanding of social processes to critically appraise both the dominant discourse on equal pay and its emergent alternative. Attraction Theory is presented as a framework for exploring a complex discourse that unequal pay exists both because of men's power to control the workplace and women's power to control courtship and family life. Implications: Tackling pay inequality and work-life balance issues by focussing on power sharing in the workplace represents only a partial policy solution. Further progress depends on power-sharing in parental rights through academic recognition and political action to tackle negative stereotypes that impact on men during romantic courtship, conception, birth and divorce. Value: The value of the paper lies in the originality of the analysis and the range of insights that Attraction Theory provides into societal dynamics that impact on equal pay. The identification of paradoxes in the dominant discourse opens up new avenues for research and policy development on work-life balance. Whether these will close the pay gap is unclear, but it would advance equality and diversity goals by creating confidence that consensual choices rather the institutional inequalities perpetuate any remaining inequalities reported in statistics.</p

Beyond ‘peer pressure’: rethinking drug use and ‘youth culture’

The study of drug use by young people in the West has been transformed over the last decade by the development of sociological approaches to drug use which take serious account of the cultural context in which young people encounter drugs. One consequence is that the notion of ‘peer pressure’, as the primary articulation of the engagement between youth culture and drug use, has been displaced by that of ‘normalisation’, which envisages ‘recreational’ drug use as one expression of consumer-based youth cultural lifestyles. In stark contrast, academic discussion of drug use in Russia remains primarily concerned with the prevalence and health consequences of (intravenous) drug use while explanations of rising rates of drug use focus on structural factors related to the expansion of drugs supply and, to a lesser extent, post-Soviet social and economic dislocation. In this article, original empirical research in Russia is used to develop an understanding of young people's drug use that synthesises structural and cultural explanations of it. It does this by situating young people's narratives of their drugs choices in the context of local drugs markets and broader socio-economic processes. However, it attempts to go beyond seeing structural location as simply a ‘constraint’ on individual choice by adopting an understanding of ‘youth culture’ as a range of youth cultural practices and formations that simultaneously embody, reproduce and negotiate the structural locations of their subjects

The association between family and community social capital and health risk behaviours in young people: an integrative review

Background: Health risk behaviours known to result in poorer outcomes in adulthood are generally established in late childhood and adolescence. These ‘risky’ behaviours include smoking, alcohol and illicit drug use and sexual risk taking. While the role of social capital in the establishment of health risk behaviours in young people has been explored, to date, no attempt has been made to consolidate the evidence in the form of a review. Thus, this integrative review was undertaken to identify and synthesise research findings on the role and impact of family and community social capital on health risk behaviours in young people and provide a consolidated evidence base to inform multi-sectorial policy and practice.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods: Key electronic databases were searched (i.e. ASSIA, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts) for relevant studies and this was complemented by hand searching. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied and data was extracted from the included studies. Heterogeneity in study design and the outcomes assessed precluded meta-analysis/meta-synthesis; the results are therefore presented in narrative form.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Results: Thirty-four papers satisfied the review inclusion criteria; most were cross-sectional surveys. The majority of the studies were conducted in North America (n=25), with three being conducted in the UK. Sample sizes ranged from 61 to 98,340. The synthesised evidence demonstrates that social capital is an important construct for understanding the establishment of health risk behaviours in young people. The different elements of family and community social capital varied in terms of their saliency within each behavioural domain, with positive parent–child relations, parental monitoring, religiosity and school quality being particularly important in reducing risk.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusions: This review is the first to systematically synthesise research findings about the association between social capital and health risk behaviours in young people. While providing evidence that may inform the development of interventions framed around social capital, the review also highlights key areas where further research is required to provide a fuller account of the nature and role of social capital in influencing the uptake of health risk behaviours.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt

Measuring the contribution of extractive industries to local development : the case of oil companies in Nigeria

Extractive industries face two main challenges in terms of CSR and poverty reduction: 1) recognize that societal activity is part of their core business; 2) take part in socio-economic projects that contribute to their stakeholders' empowerment and not only to their living conditions. Based on surveys achieved in Nigeria in 2008, the paper presents two societal performance indices meant to be complementary: the Poverty Exit Index (PEI) and the Relational Capability Index (RCI). We show that, while they have fostered the PEI of the local communities, the development projects of the oil companies had a rather negative impact on their RCI. We then identify key variables that can influence positively the RCI and on which a sensible development policy should focus.development indices ; capability approach ; relational capability ; development ; poverty ; impact assessment

Exploring children’s perceptions of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours

Children’s reports of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours were examined from their own perspective and from their perceptions of their peers’ beliefs about the same behaviour. Two hundred and 76 (116 female and 161 male, Mage = 11.00 years, SDage = 1.29) children recruited from a primary and a secondary school in the UK completed measures of the perceived seriousness of disruptive classroom behaviours from their own perspective and also their beliefs about their peers’ perceptions, social desirability, and social behaviour. A three factor structure of disruptive classroom behaviours emerged encompassing: Imprudent behaviours, negative behaviours, and expressed emotions. Children judged the disruptive classroom behaviours as more serious compared to how they thought their peers would judge the same behaviour. Gender and age differences also emerged. The findings support the conclusion that children regard disruptive classroom behaviours as more serious than they believe their peers do