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A Longitudinal Investigation of Sport Participation, Peer Acceptance, and Self-esteem among Adolescent Girls and Boys

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Abstract

The present investigation was designed to explore the relations between sport participation, peer acceptance, and global self-esteem. Peer acceptance was considered as a possible mediator of the relationship between sport participation and global self-esteem. The sample included girls (N = 4,689) and boys (N = 5,811) between the ages of 12 and 21 (M = 15 years) who were part of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Analyses revealed that peer acceptance partially mediated the relation between sport participation and global self-esteem for girls as well as boys. Findings suggest the importance of considering how sport participation and self-evaluations in particular domains may contribute to global feelings of self-worth. The role of peers in this relationship is discussed in relation to changing social attitudes about girls’ sport participation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Margarita Azmitia for her thoughtful comments and suggestions. This research uses data from Add Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth/contract.html).

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Correspondence to Elizabeth Daniels.

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This research was supported by a NICHD predoctoral training grant at the University of California, Santa Cruz to the first author (5 T32 MH020025) as well as a faculty research grant from the Social Sciences Division of the University of California, Santa Cruz to the second author. Elizabeth Daniels is now at University of California Los Angeles.

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Daniels, E., Leaper, C. A Longitudinal Investigation of Sport Participation, Peer Acceptance, and Self-esteem among Adolescent Girls and Boys. Sex Roles 55, 875–880 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9138-4

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