The relationship between gender, depression, and self-esteem in children who have witnessed domestic violence.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether there are measurable gender differences in self-esteem and depression in elementary school-age children who have witnessed domestic violence.

METHOD

Forty-five elementary school-age children who were identified as having witnessed domestic violence, and their teachers were surveyed for self-esteem, depression, and classroom behaviors. The results were compared between males and females using linear regression modeling.

RESULTS

No significant gender differences were found for self-esteem and depression. An interaction between gender and post-traumatic stress was found to play a significant role in the interpretation of the results.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicated that higher levels of symptoms indicative of post-traumatic stress were associated with greater numbers of depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem for boys who had witnessed domestic violence. The results appeared similar to previous work with children and their emotional reactions to divorce.