1. Taylor Nelson and Nina S. Mounts Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem on Consulting and Distress about Ostracism References Eisenberger, N.I. (2010). The neural basis of social pain: Findings and implications. In Geoff MacDonald & Lauri A. Jensen- Campbell (Eds.) Social Pain: Neuropsychological and Health Implications of Loss and Exclusion. (pp. 53-78). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Harter, S., Stocker, C., & Robinson, N.C. (1996). The perceived directionality of the link between approval and self-worth: The liabilities of a looking glass self-orientation among young adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 6(3), 285- 308. Harter, S. & Whitesell, N.C. (2004). Beyond the debate: Why some adolescents report stable self-worth over time and situation, whereas others report changes in self-esteem. Journal of Personality, 71(6), 1027-1058. Mounts, N.S. (2011). Parental management of peer relationships and early adolescents’ social skills. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40(4), 416-427. Williams, K.D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 425-452.. Discussion The indirect effect between adolescents’ report of consulting, global self-esteem, and distress about ostracism was significant. Observed consulting was, surprisingly, positively related to distress about ostracism. As predicted, higher self-esteem was related to lower distress about ostracism. The results suggest that raising one’s self- esteem may be a preventive measure against the negative effects of ostracism. Longitudinal research is needed to determine the causal relationships between consulting, self-esteem, and ostracism. Research Questions Two questions of interest: 1.Are child reports of maternal consulting and distress about ostracism mediated by self – esteem? It is hypothesized that higher levels of child reports of maternal consulting will be related to higher levels of self-esteem, which, in turn, will be related to lower levels of distress about ostracism. 2.Does observational consulting mediate the effects of self-esteem on observations of maternal consulting and distress about ostracism? It is predicted that higher levels of observational maternal consulting will be related to higher levels of self-esteem, which will be related to lower levels of distress about ostracism. Introduction Consulting occurs when parents are actively involved with providing their children with solutions to social problems (Mounts, 2011). High levels of consulting are associated with higher peer acceptance, better social skills, and more positive friendship quality (Mounts, 2011). Ostracism is the experience of being ignored or excluded by others (Williams, 2007). Ostracized individuals feel pain possibly from activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, an area also activated during physical pain (Eisenberger, 2010; Williams, 2007) Self-esteem can be defined as one’s idea of how much worth they have as a person (Harter & Whitesell, 2004). Self-esteem is related to peer approval (Harter, Stocker, & Robinson, 1996). Self-esteem may mediate the relationship between maternal consulting and distress about ostracism. Method Participants 70 adolescents and their mothers M Age = 12.39 years 51.4% of participants were girls Procedure Questionnaires Mother-child interactions video recorded Cyberball Adolescents self-reported their feelings during the game of Cyberball Measures Parental Management of Peers Inventory (PMPI) (Mounts, 2008; 2011) -Consulting subscale -10 items - Cronbach’s alpha is α=.89 -”When my child is having trouble with a friend he/she can ask me for help in solving it” Observational Consulting -Recording mother-child interactions to hypothetical situations for 10 minutes -Videos coded to the nearest 0.1 second using INTERACT program (Mangold, 2010) -Cohen’s kappa was.82 Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988) -Subscales used include: global self worth, scholastic competence, social acceptance, and behavioral conduct. -5 items on each scale -Range of Cronbach’s alphas are between α=.66 and.84 Distress to Ostracism Scale -3 trial assessments -10 items -Cronbach’s alpha of α=.85 -”I felt like the other kids didn’t’ like me” Results