SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIAL COMPETENCE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN BOYS WITHOUT FRIENDS

Very little is known about relationships between children's self-repor ted self-esteem and their behavior. In order to evaluate this relation ship, the Piers-Harris Self Concept (PHS) Scale was administered to 59 non-psychotic boys referred to an outpatient children's social skills program. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1 983) was administered to the mother and the Pupil Evaluation Inventory (PEI; Pekarik, Print, Liebert, Weintraub & Neil, 1976) to the teacher . Social competence, as reflected in CBCL and PEI measures, and extern alizing behavior, as measured by the CBCL Externalizing Behavior scale were positively related to self-esteem. Relationships to conceptions of self-esteem and implications for assessment of treatment outcome we re discussed.