The relationship between perceptions of family and classroom climates and self-concept in preadolescents

This study investigated the relationship between perceptions of family and classroom climates and self-concept in preadolescents. Subjects included 183 preadolescent fifth grade children who attended urban public elementary schools within the New York City area. Family and classroom environments are comprised of three dimensions each: the relationship dimension (i.e., expression of feelings), the personal growth dimension (i.e., self-sufficiency, achievement, intellectual-cultural interests), and the systems maintenance dimension (i.e., structure, rule-setting). The Children\u27s Version of the Family Environment Scale and the Classroom Environment Scale measured the subjects\u27 family and classroom environments, respectively. The Piers-Harris Self-concept Scale measured global self-concept. Path analysis was used to demonstrate the unidirectional causal relationships between the family and classroom environments and self-concept. It was hypothesized that the independent variables (the six dimensions of the family and classroom environments) would relate significantly to the dependent variable (self-concept). It was also expected that when both environments were combined they would account for the greatest amount of the variance in self-concept. The results of the path models revealed that the combination of the family environment, the classroom environment, and achievement had significant influence on subjects\u27 self-concept. Overall, the results showed that classroom relationships were the strongest predictor of subjects\u27 self-concept, followed by achievement and family personal growth. However, the results differed when analyzed by gender. For female subjects, family relationships were the strongest predictor of self-concept, followed by classroom systems maintenance, achievement, and family personal growth. For the male subjects, the strongest predictor of self-concept was classroom relationships, followed by achievement and family personal growth. The findings added support to the current literature demonstrating that family and school are not mutually exclusive, but are both influential to children\u27s self-concept. The results reinforce the need for models of education which account for these potentially powerful family-school factors and their influence on children\u27s self-concept