The role of self-esteem, self-efficacy, social support and resilience in psychological adjustment in schoolchildren

Abstract

Background. There has been a recent increase in research to empirically verify different personal and contextual variables that impact psychological adjustment indicators, but further research is still needed in the construction of explanatory models, especially for children. Objective. This study aimed to analyze the role of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and family social support in resilience, and their effect on indicators of psychological adjustment, in children living in at-risk contexts. Design. A sample of 450 participants (229 boys, 221 girls) aged 9 to 12 years, with a mean age of 1.70 (SD=.67), participated in the study. With the parents’ consent, the children completed a questionnaire containing sociodemographic questions and seven scales for the measurement of each of the variables under study. Results. Significant differences in the predictor variables were found according to the levels of resilience, but not with respect to gender, and the correlations between the variables were found to be significant. The proposed structural model was verified, which shows acceptable fit indices and highlights that family social support is related to resilience and psychological adjustment. Conclusion. Personality characteristics and family social support, as personal and social variables, constitute protective factors during childhood in the context of psychosocial risk, suggesting that they must be taken into account when implementing programs to promote resilience and well-being.