Puerto Rican kindergartners' self-worth as coded from the Attachment Story Completion Task: correlated with other self-evaluation measures and ratings of child behavior toward mothers and peers

Abstract

This multi-method multi-informant study assessed 105 Puerto Rican kindergartners' sense of self-worth in family relationships as coded from their responses to the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT). The ASCT scores were compared with responses to two other age-appropriate self-evaluation measures (the Cassidy Puppet Interview and the Pictorial Scales of Social Acceptance). Correlations of children's scores on the three self-measures with maternal ratings of the mother–child relationship and teacher ratings of the child's prosocial behavior with peers were then compared. ASCT self-worth and Puppet Interview scores were strongly correlated with each other and both were modestly related to the pictorial social acceptance scales. All three measures were significantly associated with maternal and teacher reports of child behavior, but the strongest correlations were obtained with the ASCT. Coding the ASCT in terms of self-worth appears to be a promising approach for evaluating young children's (vicariously expressed) self-worth in family relationships.

Keywords:

• self-worth
• attachment story completions
• young children
• Puerto Rican children

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology Dissertator Fellowship Award and the Human Development and Family Studies Graduate Student Excellence Award. I want to acknowledge the vital role of the research assistants and the Department of Education in Puerto Rico. I am indebted to the children, mothers, and teachers who made this study possible. Finally, I am grateful to Inge Bretherton and Timothy Page for providing input in the preparation of this article.

Notes

1. The ASCT self-worth coding manual is available upon request and training is necessary to employ it.