Self-Esteem Research, Theory, and Practice Toward a Positive ...

Major Self-Esteem Research Findings 83levels of low self-esteem. In fact, one of the most impressive studies supportingthe position that such abuse does have powerful developmental,behavioral, and clinical implications for a developing person is found inthe work of Swanston, Tebbutt, O’Toole, and Oates (1997). An advantageof pointing to this study is that it is one of the few that involves a wellstratifiedsample of reasonably good size (86 participants), who were comparedwith control groups that did not experience abuse. Subjects werealso followed for a 5-year period, which gives the work longitudinalstrength. In addition to confirming the general finding that many sexuallyabused children suffer increased rates of several types of mental healthproblems, such as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, binge eating, andself-injury, this study found that the difficulties continue over time.Such a finding is important because it supports the idea that sexualabuse can go beyond “just” being a problem: It may create difficulties inother ways as well. For example, the authors went on to indicate that thefindings are consistent with Finkelhor and Browne’s (1985) model oftraumatization. This view identifies four “traumagenic dynamics” thatare associated with the “categories of psychological injury experiencedby children who have been sexually abused” (p. 605). They are sexualtraumatization (learning age-inappropriate sexual behavior), betrayal(feelings of depression, hostility, or isolation associated with the abuse),powerlessness (described as anxiety, a decreased sense of personal efficacy,and an increased risk of victimization in the future), and stigmatization(a sense of self-blame or shame). Note that at least two of thesedimensions, power and stigma, are related to competence and worthiness.Thus, it is easy to understand how it is that abuse may take a serioustoll on self-esteem and its development.Of course, it is also important to note that just as with any otherchildhood difficulty or trauma, which particular problem one develops, orwhether one develops any problem at all, depends on such variables as theidentity of the abuser, the frequency and severity of abuse, age and level ofdevelopmental maturity, the degree of social support present, personality,and, most of all, resilience. Nevertheless, it is clear that one of the mostdamaging potential effects of childhood abuse is how it may affect selfesteem,which has all kinds of negative possibilities for the future.Beginning in the late 1980s, people began to notice other characteristicsassociated with low self-esteem that are far less debilitating and notparticularly clinical, although not without consequence. For example,Campbell and Lavallee (1993) found that in contrast to people with highself-esteem,Low self-esteem people utilize self-protective strategies, characterizedby unwillingness to take risks, focusing on avoiding their bad qualities,