Determinants of self-esteem among children in Jordan

A large cross-sectional study of more than 2,000 school-aged students in Jordan has found that body weight, height, age, number of siblings, educational program, and sex together explain roughly one-third of the variation in children’s self-esteem, with higher body weight emerging as the single most notable negative predictor. The research, led by Rami Masa’deh and Aaliyah Momani of the Faculty of Nursing at Applied Science Private University in Amman, together with colleagues at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh and the University of Tabuk, was published in BMC Psychology on 31 August 2026 as an open-access article. The findings offer one of the most detailed portraits to date of the factors shaping self-esteem among Jordanian children, a population the authors note has been underexamined relative to children in Western settings.

Self-esteem, broadly understood as an individual’s overall evaluation of their own worth, is regarded by developmental researchers as a cornerstone of healthy personality development. The authors frame the problem by pointing out that school-aged children may experience lower self-esteem than people in other age groups, and that the influences on self-esteem are not universal but vary across cultures. Factors that matter in one society may carry different weights in another, which is why culturally grounded studies such as this one are needed. Understanding which characteristics of children are associated with how they value themselves can help schools, families, and health services target support where it is most likely to make a difference, particularly during a developmental window in which self-perceptions are still forming and can be shaped by intervention.

The study set out with two linked aims: to assess the level of self-esteem among school-aged students in Jordan and to examine the determinants of that self-esteem. To do this, the researchers employed a cross-sectional descriptive design, a common approach for measuring characteristics and their associations at a single point in time. The sampling strategy was deliberately broad. Thirty-six schools were selected across the three most populous cities in Jordan — Amman, the capital, and Irbid and Zarqa, two major urban centers in the north and center of the country respectively. By anchoring the sample in the country’s largest cities, the researchers aimed to capture a student population that reflects the bulk of Jordan’s urban school-going children. In total, 2,100 students were recruited through these schools.

Each participating student completed two instruments. The first was a demographic characteristics checklist, gathering information such as age, sex, weight, height, number of siblings, and the type of educational program in which the student was enrolled. The second was the Arabic version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a widely used ten-item questionnaire that has been translated and validated for Arabic-speaking populations. The Rosenberg scale asks respondents to agree or disagree with statements about their self-worth and self-acceptance, producing a summary score in which higher values indicate higher self-esteem. Using an established, validated instrument in its Arabic form strengthens the comparability of the findings with international research, since the same scale underpins a large body of global literature on adolescent and child self-esteem.

The analysis proceeded in two stages. First, the researchers computed descriptive statistics, reporting the mean self-esteem score across the whole sample as 22.96, with a standard deviation of 2.46. This figure provides the benchmark against which the determinants were then evaluated. Second, and central to the study’s contribution, the team applied standard multiple regression, a statistical technique that allows several predictor variables to be examined simultaneously while controlling for the others. This matters because variables such as age, height, and weight are naturally interrelated in growing children; regression makes it possible to ask whether weight, for example, is associated with self-esteem over and above what can be explained by a child’s age or height. It is through this approach that the study identified the set of factors that independently predict self-esteem scores.

The regression results showed that almost 34 percent of the variance in self-esteem was explained by six variables: the student’s weight, number of siblings, height, age, educational program, and sex. For a study of psychological functioning in children, where a large share of variation is typically unexplained, accounting for roughly a third of the differences between children is a substantial proportion. The direction of the associations was equally informative. Increased weight predicted a decrease in self-esteem, making body weight the factor working in the opposite direction from the others. By contrast, a greater number of siblings, greater height, and greater age each predicted an increase in self-esteem. Students enrolled in international educational programs reported higher self-esteem than their peers, and boys scored higher than girls.

Several of these patterns invite careful interpretation. The negative association between weight and self-esteem is consistent with a large international literature linking higher body weight in childhood and adolescence with poorer self-perception, often attributed to body image concerns, peer commentary, and social comparisons during a life stage in which appearance is highly salient. Because height and age both predicted higher self-esteem, the authors’ statistical approach helps clarify that the weight effect is not simply a by-product of children’s physical growth trajectory; rather, among children of the same age and height, those carrying more weight reported lower self-worth. The positive association with number of siblings may reflect the social resources that brothers and sisters provide, from companionship to practice in negotiation and social skills, though the cross-sectional design cannot confirm the mechanism. The advantage for older children within this school-aged sample suggests that self-esteem may strengthen across middle childhood, or that older students have accumulated more experiences of competence and social success.

The finding that students in international educational programs had higher self-esteem than those in other programs is noteworthy in the Jordanian context, where families can choose between the national curriculum and international programs typically taught wholly or partly in English. Students in such programs may come from more affluent households, may perceive greater future opportunities, or may experience different school climates and teaching styles — all possibilities that the authors raise indirectly by flagging educational program as a determinant. Similarly, the sex difference favoring boys echoes findings from many cultural settings, where gendered expectations and social feedback can shape how girls and boys evaluate themselves during the school years. The study’s design, however, captures associations at one moment in time; it cannot establish whether these program and sex differences are caused by the environments themselves or by the characteristics of the children and families within them.

As with any cross-sectional survey, the study has limitations that temper how firmly its conclusions can be drawn. Measuring self-esteem and its potential determinants simultaneously means that causal direction cannot be established — low self-esteem could plausibly influence factors such as weight through lifestyle pathways, just as weight may influence self-esteem. Self-reported height and weight, if used, are also subject to reporting bias, and the sample, while large, was drawn from urban schools in three cities, which may limit generalizability to rural children or to Jordan’s smaller communities. In addition, the regression model accounts for 34 percent of the variance, leaving the majority of individual differences in self-esteem to be explained by factors not measured here, such as family relationships, academic experiences, peer interactions, mental health, and broader social conditions. The authors nonetheless present the six identified variables as meaningful determinants, and their combination into a single model provides a coherent, quantified account of the demographic and physical correlates of self-worth in this population.

Looking toward practice, the authors draw a direct implication for schools: educational institutions can consider implementing physical activity initiatives, healthy eating habits programs, and weight management awareness programs for their students. This recommendation follows logically from the finding that higher weight was the one measured characteristic predicting lower self-esteem. If schools can support children in maintaining healthy weight through enjoyable physical activity and balanced nutrition, delivered in ways that avoid stigmatization, they may simultaneously protect psychological well-being. The findings on sex and educational program further suggest that schools should be attentive to girls’ self-esteem in particular and to the experiences of students in different curricular tracks, ensuring that support is not concentrated only where resources are already greatest.

The study also carries implications for research and policy beyond Jordan. By demonstrating that a substantial share of self-esteem variation among school-aged children can be traced to identifiable, measurable characteristics, the work provides a template for other countries in the region where Arabic-language validated instruments make comparable studies feasible. Longitudinal follow-up would be the natural next step, allowing researchers to track whether weight changes precede changes in self-esteem or vice versa, and whether the advantages associated with age, siblings, and international programs persist into adolescence. For now, the study stands as a detailed, culturally grounded evidence base for Jordanian educators and health planners, documenting that among Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa’s schoolchildren, self-esteem is meaningfully — and modifiably — connected to the bodies they inhabit, the families they grow up in, and the classrooms they sit in. The article, funded in part through the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project, was approved by the institutional review board at Applied Science Private University, with student assent and parental consent obtained for all participants, and is freely available under open-access terms for educators, clinicians, and researchers worldwide.