Development Trajectory of Adolescent Self-esteem and Cluster Effect Analysis: Based on Growth Mixture Model

As one of the criteria to test the mental health of adolescents, researchers in psychology and pedagogy pay more and more attention to the research related to self-esteem level. Most of the previous research paradigms on adolescent self-esteem used cross-sectional studies, without further investigating the characteristics of changes in self-esteem levels over time. The adolescent self-esteem is affected by many factors in the process of development, and the influence of these factors on the development of self-esteem remains to be further explored. To explore the developmental trajectory and cluster effects of adolescent self-esteem. Using data from the China family panel studies (CFPS), 471 adolescents were screened for their self-esteem levels and other related data. The growth mixture model (GMM) was used to track and analyze the self-esteem level data for adolescents in three different bands. Results showed: (1) The fitting results of the three band data were good, with two subgroups with inconsistent development trends, namely the gentle growth group (N=390, 82.8%) and the significant growth group (N=81, 17.2%); (2) According to the results of logistic regression analysis, learning pressure, peer relationships, subjective well-being, and family social capital have a significant predictive effect on the self-esteem development trajectory of adolescent groups; (3) There are gender and urban-rural cluster effect in the developmental trajectory of adolescent self-esteem. The developmental trajectory of adolescent self-esteem is influenced by multiple factors and there are differences in cluster effects.