SynthesisJournal of youth and adolescence2026
No Robust Evidence for Cross-Lagged Effects Between Self-Esteem and Externalizing Problems: A Longitudinal Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of youth and adolescence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The longitudinal association between self-esteem and externalizing problems has been well-documented, yet the direction of this relationship remains inconsistent across studies. This meta-analysis synthesized longitudinal studies on their bidirectional links, aiming to explore whether self-esteem predicted subsequent externalizing problems or vice versa, and to identify sources of heterogeneity by examining moderating effects. A comprehensive search of six databases, followed by title/abstract screening and application of inclusion/exclusion criteria, yielded a total of 27 articles (25 independent samples) involving 38,489 participants (49.54% female; mean age 12.04 years). Bivariate correlation analyses revealed weak negative associations between self-esteem and externalizing problems over time (r = - 0.121, 95% CI = [ - 0.167, - 0.075], p < 0.001; r = - 0.092, 95% CI = [- 0.143, - 0.041], p < 0.001). However, once baseline levels were controlled for in the cross-lagged panel model, neither prior self-esteem predicted later externalizing problems (B = - 0.016, p = 0.438), nor did prior externalizing problems predict later self-esteem (B = 0.014, p = 0.479). These non-significant reciprocal effects remained robustly consistent across all demographic and methodological moderators. These findings help clarify the nature of the longitudinal relationship between self-esteem and externalizing problems. Educators should exercise caution in targeting self-esteem enhancement as an intervention for externalizing problems, nor should they over-rely on reducing externalizing behaviors as the primary means of promoting adolescent self-esteem.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42507282What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.