School Self-Esteem as a Moderator of the Impact of Violent Behaviour among Adolescents on their Psychosocial Well-being in Douala, Cameroon

Siméon Boris Nguéhan
Additional contact information
Siméon Boris Nguéhan: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Buea

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2025, vol. 9, issue 6, 5207-5216

Abstract: Adolescence is a pivotal developmental stage characterised by physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, during which self-esteem and well-being significantly influence behaviour, including violent tendencies. In Cameroon, adolescent violence is a growing concern, with aggression often linked to poor psychosocial well-being, yet protective factors in school settings remain underexplored. This study investigates the moderating role of school self-esteem in the relationship between psychosocial well-being and violent behaviour among 414 schooling adolescents (aged 13-18 years) in Douala Municipality, Cameroon, using a cross-sectional design with quota sampling to ensure balanced representation across gender, school type (public, denominational, lay private), and socioeconomic status. Participants completed three validated instruments: the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), the school subscale of Coopersmith’s Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Adolescent Aggression Scale of Orpinas and Frankowski (2001). Descriptive statistics revealed moderate psychosocial well-being, positive school self-esteem, and right-skewed violent behaviour scores, indicating a subset of high-risk individuals. Regression analyses demonstrated that both psychosocial well-being and school self-esteem independently predicted reduced violent behaviour. Significantly, the interaction term was significant, with simple slopes analysis showing the protective effect of well-being was stronger for adolescents with high self-esteem versus low self-esteem. These findings extend social cognitive theory by demonstrating how school-based self-perceptions amplify the violence-preventive benefits of psychosocial well-being in a Cameroonian context. The results highlight the importance of simultaneously enhancing both psychological well-being and academic self-concept in school-based interventions, while suggesting that institutional climate qualitatively shapes these protective mechanisms. This study provides empirical support for culturally responsive violence prevention strategies in sub-Saharan African educational settings.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ ... ssue-6/5207-5216.pdf (application/pdf)
https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/arti ... -in-douala-cameroon/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-6:p:5207-5216

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science is currently edited by Dr. Nidhi Malhan

More articles in International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science from International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Pawan Verma ().