You matter to me: Important relationships and self-esteem of adolescents in foster care

This study examined the extent to which relationships with biological mothers, foster parents and peers influenced the self-esteem of adolescents in foster care. A subsample from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being of adolescents in long-term foster care was used for this study (n=188). The findings indicated that when considering relationships with biological mothers, foster parents and peers and controlling for demographic characteristics in one regression model, relationships with peers had the greatest impact on self-esteem of adolescents. Implications for child welfare and clinical work are discussed.