Paternal absence and its effect on adolescent self-esteem.

Recent research has indicated that father absence is significantly related to self-concept of black adolescent males. Results suggest that where paternal absence exists in the home situation, the level of self-esteem tended to be affected more for males than for females. Where father was absent in the home, males tended also to have lower levels of self-esteem than females. Where self-esteem of the child and core-facilitative conditions in mother were correlated significantly (p less than .05), male self-esteem was likely to be affected negatively. Therefore, presence of maternal core-facilitative conditions can favourably effect self-esteem of both male and female adolescents in father-absent homes.