Maternal support and deviance among rural adolescents: The mediating role of self-esteem

Introduction: Supportive mothering buffers against adolescent deviance, but the precise mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood. The current investigation tested the extent to which self-esteem mediated the maternal support-deviance link and whether it varied by adolescent age and sex. Methods: Data were collected from 911 middle and high school students in the rural South (53.6% female, Mage = 14.70 years). Main model tests were completed in SEM. Results: Results indicated that maternal support and self-esteem were positively associated and negatively to deviance, and that self-esteem mediated the support-deviance link. These associations did not differ by adolescent age. However, moderating effects by sex were significant, where maternal support had a greater effect on girls’ self-esteem, while self-esteem had a greater effect on boys’ deviance. Conclusions: Findings provide some evidence of how maternal support is associated with a positive self-concept that in turn decreases the likelihood of engaging in deviant behaviors.