The Influencing Factors of Self-evaluation in Adolescents: A Structural Equation Modeling

Background Adolescents’ self-evaluation is an expressive form of their self-concept. Parental bonding, personality traits and psychological status were the three main determining factors of adolescents’ self-evaluation; however, no study has tested the effects of the three variables simultaneously. We aimed to explore these effects by a systematic approach. Methods Data came from the Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS). The associations of parental bonding (measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument), personality traits (the Responsibility Scale) and psychological status (the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K6) with self-evaluation measured in three domains (the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for children and the Self-Discipline Scale) were tested by the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Results A total of 892 Chinese adolescents (Average age = 10.72, SD = 0.89) were included. Significant positive correlations were found among self-evaluation, parental bonding, personality traits and psychological status. The overall (direct and indirect) effect of parental bonding on adolescents’ self-evaluation was 0.49 (parental bonding→ self-evaluation, β = 0.28; parental bonding→ personality traits and psychological status→ self-evaluation, β = 0.21). Personality traits and psychological status were directly associated with adolescents’ self-evaluation (personality trait→ self-evaluation, β = 0.78 and K6→ self-evaluation, β = 0.39). Conclusions The use of SEM offered a detailed analysis of the correlations between parental bonding, personality traits, and psychological status, and a systematic approach to investigating their direct and indirect effects on adolescents’ self-evaluation. The three factors were directly associated with adolescents’ self-evaluation and parental bonding had an indirect effect on adolescents’ self-evaluation that was mediated by both personality traits and psychological status.