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Self-esteem is an issue for junior high/high school girls

TO THE DAILY:

Kate Epstein's column ("I'll have what she's having: The joys of eager young cousins," 2/19/96) and Sol Derrow's letter ("Columnist's use of AAUW stats inaccurate," 2/26/96) refer to the 1990 survey completed jointly by the American Association of University Women and Greenberg-Lake: The Analysis Group.

Derrow asserts that Epstein only selectively reported facts from this survey: He claims that a complete account of the responses to the survey's query, "I'm happy the way I am" fails to support any conclusion about differences in girls' and boys' self-esteem. In an e-mail correspondence, Derrow indicated that he had read neither the survey's data report nor the 1991 Executive Summary (titled "Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America").

The 1990 survey collected data from 3,000 girls and boys, ages 9-15, attending schools at 12 locations nationwide. The sample size at each location was proportional to the number of school-age children in the states that clustered around the location.

The survey examined changes in attitudes and identity among girls and boys. Five measures attempted to gauge self-esteem. Girls and boys responded on a qualitative scale ranging from "always true" to "always false" to the following statements: I like the way I look, I like most things about myself, I'm happy the way I am, sometimes I don't like myself that much and I wish I were somebody else.

The survey results suggest that young people in general may suffer a loss of self-esteem as they grow older.

"Adolescence is a tough time for both girls and boys," notes the 1991 Executive Summary. Greenberg-Lake and the AAUW also calculated a "Self-Esteem Index," incorporating all five measures that attempted to gauge self-esteem, for girls and boys.

The self-esteem indices for boys in elementary, middle and high school were 4.99, 4.68 and 4.65, respectively, suggesting an unhappy decline in boys' self-esteem as they proceed through adolescence. The corresponding self-esteem indices for girls were 3.93, 2.80, and 2.77, suggesting that girls suffer lower self-esteem, and that their self-esteem declines more sharply.

A. C. CHUBB