Self-Concept and Self-Worth Assessment in Children

For the assessment of physical self-concept and global self-worth, this study used two subscales that resulted from a German version of Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Children [36 ] by Wünsche and Schneewind, named FSK-K (Fragebogen zur Erfassung von Selbst-und Kompetenzeinschätzungen bei Kindern) [37 ]. In the 30-item questionnaire, each item was rated on a scale of 1 to 4 in an alternative statement format, with a positive statement on one side (e.g., “I like my body the way it is”) and a negative statement on the other side (e.g., “I want my body to be different”). The child/adolescent decided which side of the description was kind of true/almost true/really true for him/her, sometimes with parental assistance. The test was conducted at all three measurement time points ( $t1,t2,t3$ ). Results were adjusted to fall within a range of 0–100 and recoded so that high scores indicated high self-concept/self-worth. Cronbach’s $\alpha$ was calculated for reliability analysis [38 ]. The internal consistencies of the subscales at baseline ( $t1$ ) and follow-up ( $t2,t3$ ) were α_t1 = 0.79; α_t2 = 0.81; α_t3 = 0.82 for physical self-concept (n_t1 = 214; n_t2 = 102; n_t3 = 72) and α_t1 = 0.71; α_t2 = 0.80; α_t3 = 0.81 for self-worth (n_t1 = 210; n_t2 = 209; n_t3 = 74).