Date

12-2023

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

Department

Human Development & Family Science

Major

Human Development & Family Science

First Advisor

Christi Cervantes

Abstract

For my capstone project, I focused on girls 11 to 13 and the impact of self-esteem on the mental health and academic engagement of adolescent girls. According to self-esteem expert Morris Rosenberg ”Self-esteem is quite simply one’s attitude toward oneself.” Studies have found that self-esteem dips in adolescence, but adolescent girls suffer from low self-esteem at a higher rate than adolescent boys (Quatman, T. & Watson, C., 2001). During this time, girls become much more aware of their changing bodies and how others view them. With the prevalence of social media and its unrealistic images of what a woman should look like. This can have detrimental effects on adolescent girls' self-esteem (Harris M. & Orth U., 2020). In a study on self-esteem and academic engagement and performance, The results showed that self-esteem predicted academic engagement through the indirect role of self-efficacy. It also found that when students felt supported by their peers, the impact of self-efficacy on their level of academic engagement was even greater (Yu W, Qian Y, & Abbey C, 2022).Therefore, providing services that teach students the importance of self-esteem is essential. To address this, I presented two workshops that focused on improving self-esteem. The first workshop will define self-esteem, its importance, and how it affects adolescent girls' mental health and academic performance. The second workshop will be focused on ways to improve self-esteem for oneself and through peer support. I will hold two workshops with 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade girls at Tierra Pacifica Charter School in Santa Cruz County over two weeks. Tierra Pacifica is a small school with around 150 kids from kindergarten to 8th grade.

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