Early developmental influences on self-esteem trajectories from adolescence through adulthood: Impact of birth weight and motor skills

Abstract

While the trajectory of self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood varies from person to person, little research has examined how differences in early developmental processes might affect these pathways. This study examined how early motor skill development interacted with preterm birth status to predict self-esteem from adolescence through the early 30s. We addressed this using the oldest known, prospectively followed cohort of extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) survivors (N = 179) and normal birth weight controls (N = 145) in the world, born between 1977 and 1982. Motor skills were measured using a performance-based assessment at age 8 and a retrospective self-report, and self-esteem was reported during three follow-up periods (age 12-16, age 22-26, and age 29-36). We found that birth weight status moderated the association between early motor skills and self-esteem. Stable over three decades, the self-esteem of normal birth weight participants was sensitive to early motor skills such that those with poorer motor functioning manifested lower self-esteem, while those with better motor skills manifested higher self-esteem. Conversely, differences in motor skill development did not affect the self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood in individuals born at extremely low birth weight. Early motor skill development may exert differential effects on self-esteem, depending on whether one is born at term or prematurely.

Very preterm birth and trajectories of domain-specific self-concept from childhood into adulthood

“…Similar to the findings on global self-esteem development from a previous extremely low birth weight cohort (Poole, Schmidt, Ferro, et al, 2018; Poole, Schmidt, Saigal, et al, 2018), this study found that VP/VLBW birth was associated with decreasing body and social self-concept from childhood to adulthood, although the association with decreasing social self-concept was weakened in the adjusted model. The effect of VP/VLBW birth on decreasing body self-concept remained even after adjusting for other factors, in contrast to a previous study which found no differences in body satisfaction between young adults born VLBW and controls (Lund et al, 2012).…”

“…Mixed findings have been reported, with some finding lower global self-esteem in VP/VLBW compared to term-born controls and others showing no differences. Only two publications have reported on the longitudinal development of global self-esteem and found consistently low self-esteem from childhood to adulthood (14–35 years of age) in extremely low birth weight individuals (<1000 g) (Poole, Schmidt, Ferro, et al, 2018; Poole, Schmidt, Saigal, et al, 2018). However, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the long-term development of domain-specific self-concept in the VP/VLBW population.…”

Developmental outcomes after early surgery for complex congenital heart disease: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The motor impairments in children with CHD may result from similar changes in brain development. To test this hypothesis, studies to measure long‐term motor outcome in children with CHD are needed, especially as it is well known that motor impairments may impact functional skills, self‐esteem, and participation in activities with peers 135,136,137,138…”

The characteristics, life circumstances and self-concept of 13 year olds with and without disabilities in Ireland: A secondary analysis of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study

“…Findings from studies of self-concept amongst children with disabilities are not conclusive. A New Zealand national survey of children with dyspraxia showed significantly lower global self-concept scores (in both academic and social selfconcept domains) compared to their typically developing (TD) peers [23], whereas [24] reported an association between motor impairments and self-concept only for children with a low birth weight. For children who have specific learning difficulties (SpLD)-dyslexia and/or dyscalculia - [25] reported significantly lower academic self-concept than in their TD peers, but these findings were not consistent in a subsequent review conducted by [26].…”