ABSTRACT
Objective@#To evaluate adolescents’ self-esteem and explore its influencing factors in order to provide basic evidence for improving self-esteem level and mental health of adolescents.@*Methods@#A total of 5 709 adolescents of different characteristics from both urban and rural areas in six provinces were investigated anonymously with the method of computer-assisted self-interview (CASI). Self-esteem was evaluated by Self-Esteem Scale (SES, scored 10-40 points).@*Results@#The average score of self-esteem was 28.15,28.40, 28.97 and 27.45 point for junior high students, senior high students, college students and out-of-school adolescents, respectively. The difference of the scores among the four groups was statistically significant(F=27.64, 14.41, P<0.01). More than 80% adolescents felt they were people of worth, were able to do things as most other people, took a positive attitude toward themselves and were satisfied with themselves. About 50% of adolescents thought they were no good at all at times. Less than 20% adolescents thought they had enough respect for themselves. About 11.57% to 22.22% of adolescents felt sad about their own gender, about 37.56% to 61.49% of adolescents often or sometimes felt sad about their body image. The multiple linear regression analysis showed that those who had a good overall feeling of family, satisfied with their own gender, and less worried about their body image tended to have a higher self-esteem scores among 4 groups(P<0.01). Other related influencing factors included parental education level, family economic status, only-child or not, birth place and parental preference for gender of their child.@*Conclusion@#Adolescents’ self-esteem was fair, and many factors were associated with it. It is necessary to strengthen the education on gender equality among parents and adolescents and to pay more attention to mental health of the adolescents, who were in rural areas, with poor family atmosphere and economic status.