身材矮小對學童自我概念的影響

身材矮小學齡兒童的身高由於比同儕低，使得他們遭受同儕的嘲笑，長期下來可能會造成心理上的自卑，或是對自己缺乏信心；雖然藉由生長激素的治療可以提高身高，但是治療的壓力與無法確定達到學童、家屬滿意的身高，對於身材矮小學齡兒童自我概念有著深遠的影響。本研究目的為探討比較正常身高與身材矮小學齡兒童對其自我概念的影響，採比較性研究設計，共收集138位10-12歲正常身高與診斷為身材矮小的學齡兒童，使用結構式問卷為工具，運用SPSS13.0/Window XP套裝軟體進行建檔及資料分析。研究結果顯示：(1)正常身高、身材矮小未使用生長激素，以及身材矮小使用生長激素三組兒童之人際、學校自我概念達顯著差異；(2)不同基本屬性資料中，以自覺學業狀況好、可，以及雙親家庭對自我概念有正向影響；(3)身材矮小學童之外貌自我概念較正常身高學童差。本研究顯示身材矮小之外觀對於學童的自我概念有顯著影響，此研究結果可以提供臨床護理照護身材矮小學童實務之參考，藉由減少身材矮小學童及父母不必要的憂慮或期待，促進兒童正向的自我概念。

關鍵字

自我概念；身材矮小；學齡兒童

並列摘要

For short children at school age, they often face ridicules from their peers mostly due to their physical limitations. Over time, it may affect them psychologically and cause them to lose their self-esteem or self-confidence. Although growth hormone therapy may help enhancing their stature, unsatisfactory results and the stress over treatment periods often leave lasting impacts on the children's self-concept. This research investigates the impact of short stature on the self-concept of school-age children. This research is a comparative study. The design collected a total of 138 children between the age of 10 and 12, and used structured questionnaires to collect data; the analysis used SPSS 13.0/Window XP software to process data. The results would indicate the following. (1) Children with normal height, short children with and without growth therapy, all three groups of children significantly differed at their social and school self-concept. (2) In various basic qualitative data, those answered ”good” or ”acceptable” on their academic performance, and those coming from a ”coupled family”, influenced positively on their self-concept. (3) Short-stature children felt their exterior appearance made them inferior to the children with normal height. It showed that short stature would affect the school-age children's self-concept. With the help of clinical nursing staffs, unnecessary worries or expectations can be alleviated to increase the self-concept of short children. The research results provide future clinical references for the nursing care of children with short stature.