PUBERTAL STATUS, INTERACTION WITH SIGNIFICANT OTHERS, AND SELF-ESTEEMOF ADOLESCENT GIRLS

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between pubertal status, the quality of interactions with significant others, and the self-esteem of adolescent girls. The model which was tested, hypothesi zed that pubertal status affects self-esteem through girls' interactio ns with their parents and friends. Pubertal status was operationalized as the number of months between occurrence of the first menstrual per iods and time of the investigation. The measure of self-esteem was the shortened form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Analyses rev ealed that girls who begun menstruating six months before the investig ation obtained higher scores on the measure of self-esteem than did gi rls who had been menstrauting 13 months or more. The best predictor of self-esteem, however, was the quality of interaction with their mothe rs. The results support the theoretical view that stresses the importa nce of interaction with significant others for the development of self -esteem.