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Presents findings from a sports-based youth development study focused on adolescent girls’ experiences, and discusses assessment choices that can widen the gap between practitioners and researchers.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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is self-esteem difficult to measure in research?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Self-esteem is complex, multidimensional, and often stable at higher levels, making it hard for instruments to detect change over time.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What are the main influences on self-esteem in the hierarchical model?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The model highlights perceptions of competence and social support as the two main influences shaping self-esteem outcomes.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How can afterschool sports programs support self-esteem development for adolescent girls?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Sports-based youth development can facilitate changes in how participants feel about themselves, especially through shifts in competence perceptions and supportive social 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Ellen Markowitz  \nWhen asked what my girls’ afterschool sports program does for participants, I used to say that it “builds selfesteem.” While this may have been true to some degree, I was expressing a program objective, rather thana researched outcome. Only after exploring self-esteem in my doctoral program did I begin to understand how complex and difficult it is to measure self-esteem. Now I have a deeper appreciation both for the challenges facing those who research self-esteem and for the role afterschool programs can play in facilitating its development, particularly among adolescent girls.  \nSelf-esteem has been problematic for researchers because it is complex, stable, and hard to measure (Steinberg, 1996) . When assessing the self-esteem of out-of-school time (OST) program participants, some researchers may think their instruments will not detect changes, either because the program does not last long enough to make a difference or because self-esteem is  \nmultidimensional and difficult to change. Some may respond to high-stakes testing and the pressure to demonstrate program outcomes by assessing concepts or behaviors with the strongest potential to show change, regardless of how they fit with program objectives. These responses can create a chasm between practitioners and researchers. Practitioners see firsthand that participants change how they feel about themselves, but researchers either have trouble capturing this phenomenon or are substituting other attributes for self-esteem.  \nThis article attempts to address these gaps by reviewing research about self-esteem and adolescent girls, presenting findings from a study exploring girls’experiences in a sports-based youth development program, and attempting to engage practitioners and re-  \nELLEN MARKOWITZ, Ph. D., is an athlete and lifelong advocate for positive youth development through sport. She is the founder of PowerPlay NYC ([www.powerplaynyc.org](www.powerplaynyc.org)), a girls’ sports-based youth development organization in New York City that empowers girls through sports and life skills training. She received her MBA from New York University and her Ph. D. from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. She is the principal at SuperStarters Consulting, a company that advises in the areas of sports-based youth development, nonprofit organizations, and performance.  \nsearchers in new conversations about self-esteem and how we assess it.  \nUnderstanding Self-Esteem  \nUnderstanding how individuals feel about themselves has been a quest of researchers for many years (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934) . Currently, the predominant view is that self-esteem is hierarchical and multidimensional, consisting of various levels of self-assessment (Marsh, 1990). At the highest level, global self-worth is one’s overall assessment of how one feels about oneself. This level is the most stable and difficult to change (Marsh, 1990) .  \nFigure 1. Hierarchical Model of Self-Esteem  \nFigure 2. Antecedents of Self-Esteem  \nBelow global self-worth is domain-level self-esteem , which consists of how one feels about oneself in areas of one’s life such as family, athletics, academics, and friends. Below the domains are sub-domains. Sub-domains under the domain of athletic competence, for example, might be the specific sports one plays, such as basketball, soccer, or tennis. Below sub-domains are situations , such as shooting free throws or serving. In this hierarchical model (see Figure 1), the odds of increasing one’s self-esteem are better at the lower levels, in sub-domains or situations. For example, improving skills in a particular sport can enhance one’s perception of competence in that subdomain, which might then “trickle up” to the domain of athletic competence.  \nIn this hierarchical model of self-esteem, the two main influences on self-esteem are perceptions of competence an","cbCairLPM3tbG5Rh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairLPM3tbG5Rh","pdf",200879,"English","# Understanding Self-Esteem\n## Hierarchical and Multidimensional Model\n## Perceptions of Competence and Social Support\n# Self-Esteem in Adolescent Girls","[{\"question\":\"Why is self-esteem difficult to measure in research?\",\"answer\":\"Self-esteem is complex, multidimensional, and often stable at higher levels, making it hard for instruments to detect change over time.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the main influences on self-esteem in the hierarchical model?\",\"answer\":\"The model highlights perceptions of competence and social support as the two main influences shaping self-esteem outcomes.\"},{\"question\":\"How can afterschool sports programs support self-esteem development for adolescent girls?\",\"answer\":\"Sports-based youth development can facilitate changes in how participants feel about themselves, especially through shifts in competence perceptions and supportive social environments.\"}]","Exploring Self-Esteem in a Girls’ Sports Program - Competencies and Connections Create Change | PDF",1792071821,25]