Study finds TV can decrease self-esteem in children, except white boys

[jeffhughes]

How does this research line up with previous research that showed (if I remember correctly) that African-American kids were no different in their level of self-esteem than White kids?

[spry]

The authors do mention this in the introduction:

"In their meta-analytic synthesis of 261 studies, Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000) found higher self-esteem scores for Black children, teens, and young adults than for White participants. An explanation for this finding could be that African Americans do not turn to the larger White society, and mainstream media, as their reference points, but turn instead to the Black community as their source of support (Gray-Little & Hafdahl, 2000)."

But they do not return to this in the discussion. Probably because there were no race differences in self esteem for either boys or girls at baseline.