The Intergenerational Transmission of Self-Esteem

Although self-esteem is of great importance for physical and mental health, no previous empirical study has investigated the potential relationship between parents’ and children’s self-esteem. To close this research gap, the present study examined the intergenerational transmission of self-esteem between parents and their children, while taking into account the mediating role of parents’ use of negative communication and potential differences between same-sex and opposite-sex parent-child dyads. Based on data from the eighth and ninth waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), multilevel linear regression models were estimated for an analytical sample consisting of 1,121 children between the ages of nine and 16 and their parents. The results of the statistical analysis indicated that parents’ selfesteem was only moderately related to self-esteem in their children. Furthermore, the results suggested that negative parent-child communication partially mediated the relationship, leading to lower levels of self-esteem in the younger generation. However, no significant differences in the intergenerational transmission of selfesteem could be found between same-sex and opposite-sex parent-child dyads.