Method

1. Gender Comparison in Prediction of Adolescents’ Sense of Inadequacy Jessica M. Merrill University of Nebraska-Lincoln Introduction Results A series of regression analyses were run to examine the relationship between standardized score of the sense of inadequacy measure of the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-Self-Report for adolescents (BASC-soi) and the BASC standardized scores for social stress (BASC-ss), relationship with parents (BASC-rwp), interpersonal relations (BASC-ir) and self-esteem (BASC-se) and total score from the Child Depression Inventory (CDI), total score from the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC), age, and ethnicity (0=Caucasian, 1=other) and compare the models derived from males and females. Table 1 shows the univariate statistics for the two genders. In the male sample, as hypothesized BASC-relationship with parents, interpersonal relations and self-esteem scores had a negative correlation with BASC-sense of inadequacy while BASC-social stress, Child Depression Inventory total score and Hopelessness Scale for Children total score were positively and significantly correlated with the criterion. Furthermore, Ethnicity showed no significant correlation with sense of inadequacy. Contrary to the hypothesis however, age was also not significantly correlated with sense of inadequacy. In the female sample, as hypothesized BASC-interpersonal relations and self-esteem were negatively correlated with the criterion however, contrary to the hypothesis BASC-relationship with parents did not show a significant correlation. As in the male sample, the hypothesis was supported with BASC-social stress, CDI total score and HSC total score having positive and significant correlations with the criterion. Also similar to the male sample the hypothesis that age would be significantly and positively correlated with the dependent variable was not supported. However, Ethnicity did not show a significant correlation with the criterion as hypothesized. Table 2 shows the correlations for the two populations. Resulting from multiple regression analyses, the male model (R²=.631, (8,44)=9.407, p<.001) resulted in BASC-social stress and CDI total score showing significant regression weights with BASC-social stress having slightly more of a contribution to the model (based on inspection of the Beta weights). BASC-relationship with parents, interpersonal relations, self-esteem, HSC total score, age and ethnicity did not show significant regression weights and therefore did not contribute to the model. For the female model (R²=.559, (8,38)=6.032, p<.001) BASC-social stress is the only predictor with a significant regression weight contributing to the model. BASC-relationship with parents, BASC-interpersonal relations, BASC-self-esteem, CDI total score, HSC total score, age and ethnicity did not show significant regression weights and therefore did not contribute to the model. Table 3 shows the regression weights for the two populations. Comparison of the fit of the male model and female model was conducted using Fisher’s Z-test. As hypothesized, no significant difference between the respective R² values was found, Z=.544 (Z critical=1.96, p>.05). Retaining the hypothesis it was concluded that the models work equally well at predicting sense of inadequacy for adolescents. A comparison of the structure of the two models was also performed using Hotelling’s t/Steiger’s Z, applying the male model to the data from the female model and comparing the resulting “crossed” R with the “direct” R originally obtained from this group. The direct model resulted in R²=.630 and the indirect model R²=.550 with a crossed R²=.870. As hypothesized the structure of the models were not significantly different, Z=1.64, t=1.68, p>.05, indicating that the male model and female model show no significant differences in structure when predicting sense of inadequacy for adolescents. Combining the two populations to form a full model including both males and females resulted in statistics fairly similar to those previously reported. As hypothesized, BASC-relationship with parents, interpersonal relations and self-esteem are significantly and negatively correlated with the dependent variable while BASC-social stress, CDI total score and HSC total score are positively and significantly correlated with the dependent variable. Also, as hypothesized, ethnicity was not significantly correlated with sense of inadequacy. Finally, contrary to the hypothesis, age was not significantly correlated with sense of inadequacy. Table 4 shows the simple correlations for the full model. Multiple regression analyses of the full model show an R²=.564, F(8,91)=14.699, p<.001. BASC-social stress and CDI total score are the only two contributing predictors each with a positive regression weight with BASC-social stress contributing slightly more to the model than CDI (based on Beta weight). Table 5 shows the multiple regression weights for the full model. Table 1: Univariate Statistics Males (N=85) and Females (N=83) MaleFemale Mean Std Mean Std BASC-soi 57.39 11.37 58.74 12.29 BASC-rwp 39.16 13.35 36.93 13.39 BASC-ir 44.62 11.82 47.07 12.85 BASC-ss 55.05 10.10 58.82 11.01 BASC-se 47.83 10.20 45.32 12.42 CDI total 54.21 12.00 64.55 16.50 HSC total 5.66 4.50 5.67 4.40 Age 14.19 1.70 14.60 1.80 Eth_2 .0941 .293 .253 .437 For decades researchers have focused on topics associated with or similar to depression, hopelessness and self-esteem. The breadth of research on this topic however, has focused mainly on adults rather than a younger population (D’Attilio, Campbell, Lubold, Jacobson, 1992; Haatainen, Tanskanen, Kylma, Honkalampi, Koivuma Honkanen, Hintikka, Viinamaki, 2004; Helsel & Matson, 1984; Morano & Cisler, 1993). Many of these studies use measures of assessment which are generally administered to the subject by the researcher or practitioner instead of using a self-report method as well. Furthermore, many researchers have discovered that variables such as self-esteem, depression and hopelessness are correlated with each other and it seemed necessary not to overlook sense of inadequacy as a possible addition to this group of correlations. Overall, the research which has been conducted with this and similar populations have many similarities in terms of correlated variables and expected outcomes. For purposes of this study the previously mentioned topics such as depression, hopelessness and self-esteem were studied in combination with the dependent variable, sense of inadequacy. While associated with such variables as self-esteem, sense of inadequacy has been widely studied in recent research. Sense of inadequacy may be related to such things as self-esteem, self-criticizing behaviors, social and familial support and hopelessness. Negative emotions in regard to these factors may lead to such behavioral or emotional problems such as suicide, moderate to severe depression and self-harming or criticizing behaviors (D’Attilio, et al., 1992; Haatainen, K., 2004; Gilbert, Clarke, Hempel, Miles, Irons, 2004; Kashani, Dandoy, Vaidya, Soltvs, 1990; Morano & Cisler, 1993). Therefore sense of inadequacy was studied in association with factors that have been shown to be related to these behavioral problems in hopes of determining ways to understand adolescent sense of inadequacy and its possible effects. Many researchers have found differences among adolescents across age groups. For example, Haatainen et al. (2004) found that hopelessness tended to increase with age but stayed very similar across gender. The same was found in a study involving the Child Depression Inventory by Hesel and Matson (1984), where gender differences were not found however significant differences were found across age with older children tending to score higher on the measure of depression than younger children. In a study conducted by Morano and Cisler (1993), the authors reported that in terms of prediction of healthy adjustment, social and familial support was very important for both genders and is found to be a guard against suicide potential. In another study involving suicide potential in adolescents the authors found that those adolescents who had less social support and fewer social contacts were more likely to be at risk for suicide (D’Attilio et al., 1992). Within the current study, social support and sense of inadequacy have been found to be related as well which may have relevance in the prediction of suicide potential. Also in close relation to the current study, Gilbert et al. (2004, p. 32) in their study on forms, styles and reasons for criticizing in females found that “self-disparagement, marked by feelings of personal inadequacy, is strongly associated with life-time risk of depression”. These previous findings are generally well associated with the current study and show the need to study the relationship between sense of inadequacy and adolescents in order to help determine if differences should be made in terms of future assessment and treatment of adolescents. With adolescence being a time of life where emotions and feelings about the self may be confusing it also seems important to focus on measures which are self-report in hopes of obtaining the adolescents true feelings or emotions involving the questions being asked. By using self report measures to obtain standardized scores for measures of social stress, relationships with parents, self-esteem, interpersonal relations, depression and hopelessness in adolescents it was then hypothesized that social stress, depression and hopelessness would be significantly and positively correlated with the dependent variable for both genders. It was also hypothesized that relationships with parents, self-esteem and interpersonal relations would be significantly and negatively correlated with the dependent variable for both genders. Thirdly, it was hypothesized that age would be positively and significantly correlated with sense of inadequacy for both genders. Fourth, it was hypothesized that ethnicity would have no significant correlation with the dependent variable. Fifth, it was hypothesized that the fit and structure of the male and female models would be similar. Finally, when combining the two populations to form a full model it was hypothesized that similar results would be found among the full model Table 2: Simple Correlations r with criterion Males Females BASC-rwp -.276* -.237 BASC-ir -.282* -.458*** BASC-ss .646*** .701*** BASC-se -.539*** -.482*** CDI total .627*** .696*** HSC total .565*** .491*** Age -.205 -.091 Eth 2^ -.163 .113 ^ 0=Caucasion, 1=other *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001 Table 3: Multiple Regression Analyses MalesFemales b B b B BASC-rwp .128 .140 .092 .102 BASC-ir .156 .145 -.091 -.101 BASC-ss .503*** .448 .436* .384 BASC-se -.113 -.102 .128 -.133 CDI total .393** .383 .178 .246 HSC total .289 .110 .255 .092 Age -.642 -.088 .626 .086 Eth 2^ -2.283 -.058 2.110 .085______ ^ 0=Caucasian, 1=other *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001 Method Participants A sample of 171 adolescents was used for purposes of these analyses and separated by gender resulting in 85 males and 83 females (M age=14.39, SD=1.785). The participants were selected from a current database in cooperation with a Mid-western psychiatric facility. The sample was binarized for ethnicity resulting in 81.3% of the population reported as Caucasian (coded=0) and 18.7% reported as other (coded=1). Measures: BASC-SRPA. Participants completed the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-Self-Report Personality-Adolescent (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). Included in this assessment are 117 questions to which participants responded either true or false in an attempt to give the most accurate report of their feelings or emotions in relation to the question asked. ( ADD: EXAMPLE QUESTIONS). Each question is respectively grouped (example: social stress), scored and standardized. Child Depression Inventory (CDI). Additionally, participants completed the Child Depression Inventory (Kovacs,1982) consisting of 27 groups of questions. Each group consists of three contrasting sentences (sample item: “I like being with people, I do not like being with people many times, I do not want to be with people at all”) with each sentence is awarded either zero, one or two points. The adolescent then chose which sentence best describes them in terms of their feelings and ideas within the last two weeks. A raw total was then determined and scaled to find a total t-score. Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC). The participants also completed the Hopelessness Scale for Children (Kazdin, French, Unis, Esveldt-Dawson, Sherick, 1983). The assessment consists of 17 statements to which the adolescents answered either true or false to convey whether the statement is or is not representative of them (sample item: “I have enough time to finish the things I really want to do”). Each sentence is scored with either one or zero points with total scores of or exceeding seven showing significant hopelessness or negative expectations about the future. Procedures: Participants were adolescents admitted to a Mid-western psychiatric facility and administered multiple assessments for purposes of diagnoses. Add more here if you have it. Discussion It was the explicit purpose of this study to determine if there are gender similarities among adolescents in terms of what contributes to their sense of inadequacy when using measures of self-report. It was hypothesized that among both genders standardized score for social stress and total score on the Child Depression Inventory, Hopelessness Scale for Children and age would be significantly and positively correlated with sense of inadequacy while standardized score for relationships with parents, self-esteem and interpersonal relations would be significantly and negatively correlated. It was also hypothesized that ethnicity would have no significant correlation with the dependent variable. The hypotheses were supported with the exception of age which did not show a significant correlation with sense of inadequacy. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that there would be no important differences between the male and female models in terms of comparison of fit and structure. The data supported these hypotheses resulting in models of prediction that work equally well at predicting sense of inadequacy and show no significant differences in structure. The results of this study are similar to those previously studied in that gender differences were not apparent. One notable difference between previous research and the current study is that of findings concerning age. There have been differences across age groups in terms of levels of hopelessness and scores on depression inventories however these differences were not noted in this research (Haatainen et al., 2004; Helsel & Matson, 1984). In future work and research with adolescents it seems necessary to take into account that many of the measures used here to predict sense of inadequacy are correlated and may be influential in aiding prediction of other related constructs. Sense of inadequacy has been shown to be correlated with such constructs as depression, hopelessness and social stress and these constructs have been shown to be related with suicide potential, moderate to severe depression and self-harming or criticizing behaviors (D’Attilio et al., 1992; Haatainen et al., 2004; Gilbert, et al., 2004; Kashani, et al., 1990; Morano & Cisler, 1993). Therefore, in future work with adolescents including sense of inadequacy as a factor in the prediction of some behavioral disorders may be beneficial to their treatment and diagnoses. Limitations of the research conducted here and in previous studies are the populations studied, which tend to be adolescents of inpatient psychiatric facilities who may already be presenting some other form of behavioral disturbance or disorder. It may be necessary to try and further replicate these findings across a sample of adolescents who either are or are not presenting some type of disorder at the time of assessment. A larger sample size would surely be beneficial as well in future replication. The sample selected for this study is also comprised of mainly Caucasian adolescents. Therefore, the results of this study may not be completely representative of other ethnicities warranting replication. Table 4: Full Model Multiple Regression Analyses b B BASC-rwp .110 .121 BASC-ir .031 .032 BASC-ss .472*** .428 BASC-se -.171 -.167 CDI total .183* .238 HSC total .392 .145 Age -.093 -.013 Eth 2^ -.682 -.024 ^ 0=Caucasian, 1=other *p<.05 **p<.01 ***p<.001