ACHIEVEMENT, SELFESTEEM, SUICIDE, AND RELATIVE AGE

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ACHIEVEMENT, SELF-ESTEEM, SUICIDE, AND RELATIVE
AGE
OVERVIEW The literature indicates that grouping
children by age inadvertently determines later
sport and academic prowess. For example, elite
hockey and soccer players are much more likely to
be born early in the activity year, with
relatively few being born in the latter months.
Similarly, the better achievers in school tend to
have been older than their classmates upon
entering grade one. This study determined whether
this relative age effect applied to suicide by
examining the age of grade one entry among youth
suicides. Records were obtained for suicide
deaths of individuals under age 20 in Alberta,
Canada, during the years 1979-1992. Results
showed that a disproportionate number were born
in the second half of the "school year" (i.e.
were younger than their classmates). A separate
study indicated that relative age at school
commencement was related to later self-esteem.
These data indicate that systemic factors that
place children at differing levels of advantage
can affect competence, emotional development,
suicidal behaviour.
SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT A large body of research has
shown that children who enter grade one at a
relatively young age do less well than those who
are older even though the span from youngest to
oldest may be only one year. Children who are
younger than their classmates tend to achieve
less well, be classed as learning disabled, and
show adjustment difficulties. The following
Figure shows recent data of this kind for Alberta
schoolchildren.
SELF-ESTEEM AND SUICIDE A theoretical explanation
for relative age includes the belief that its
effects are due, in the end, to a negative
self-appraisal and diminished self-confidence.
These are the thought to also be much like the
essential ingredients of completed suicide. The
accompanying Table shows the distribution of
youth suicides in Alberta from 1979-92 according
to age at entering grade one (data are presented
separately for each grade one entry cutoff date
used in the various school districts). The
younger children show the higher rates in each
case.
SPORT Hockey. The Figure below left shows the
distribution of birth-months of players in two
Canadian major junior hockey leagues (the Ontario
Junior Hockey League and the Western Hockey
League). The data indicate that the probability
of success in high calibre hockey is dramatically
reduced for those born at the end of the year.
The distribution of birthdates for minor-league
hockey players (aged 9 to 15 yrs.) is shown in
the Figure above right. Top tier (better)
players show a strong relative age effect, while
bottom tier players show a reverse relative age
effect (i.e. show a greater proportion of younger
players). Furthermore, players who were born in
the latter part of the year are more likely to
drop out of hockey altogether. Soccer.
International-level soccer players show the same
effect, with the exception that month one for
these players is August, rather than January.
This suggests that relative age effects
correspond to the cutoff dates used by minor
sports organizations to group young children for
competition (January 1 for hockey, August 1 for
soccer at that time).
Self-esteem may operate between relative age
effects and suicide. The relationship between
self-esteem (measured by the Culture Fair
Self-Esteem Inventory) and age at entering grade
one is shown above right.
CONCLUSIONS Relative age effects can affect
achievement, emotional development and suicidal
behaviour, and these effects are generally left
unattended Remedies might include (1) changes in
the grouping of children for competitive
activities, (2) introducing procedures to ensure
the optimal development of self-confidence, and
(3) further examination of the role of
competition in child development.