Background & Objectives: Self–concept constitutes a fundamental pillar of adolescents’ careers, relationships, and overall personality. Each individual has a self–concept, a complex structure that constitutes his or her personal beliefs, perceptions, and evaluations. Self–esteem is often considered the evaluative component of self–concept, referring to an individual’s subjective evaluation of their own worth as a person. Based on expectancy–value theory and self–determination theory, teacher support, from students’ perspectives, is associated with their academic self–concept and academic enjoyment. Teachers’ emotional support is defined as an instructional practice in which teachers foster positive teacher–student relationships, provide emotional care and constructive feedback, and address students’ individual needs. Fostering a strong self–concept and high self–esteem is particularly important for female students in the first course of high school who are transitioning into adolescence. Possessing enhanced self–concept and self–esteem during this period—characterized by identity crises, self–exploration, discovery of interests, and talent development—can represent a significant advantage. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine the relationship between teachers’ emotional support and the self–concept and self–esteem of female students in the first course of high school.

Methods: The present study was analytical in nature and employed correlation coefficients to examine the relationships among a set of variables. The statistical population consisted of 1,872 female students enrolled in the first course of high school (Grades 7, 8, and 9) in public and private schools in Garmsar during the 2024–2025 academic year. Based on the Krejcie and Morgan’s table (1970), the sample size was determined to be 320 participants, who were selected using a multi–stage cluster sampling method. In the first stage, the geographical locations of girls’ first course of high school in Garmsar were identified (five schools). In the second stage, three schools were randomly selected from among them. Subsequently, through in–person visits to the selected schools and in coordination with school principals, students from Grades 7, 8, and 9 who were willing to participate were selected as the study sample and completed the research instruments. After data collection and review, 107 questionnaires were excluded due to incomplete responses, and ultimately 213 questionnaires were analyzed. Inclusion criteria consisted of informed consent and the absence of identifiable physical or motor impairments. Exclusion criteria included unwillingness to cooperate and incomplete completion of the questionnaires. Ethical considerations included obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality and anonymity of participants’ information, and preventing any harm to them. The following instruments were used for data collection: the Teacher Affective Support Scale (Sakız, 2007), the Self–Concept Scale (Rogers, 1938), and the Rosenberg Self–Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965). Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Descriptive statistics included frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationships between teachers’ emotional support and students’ self–concept and self–esteem. Simple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine predictive effects. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05.

Results: The results showed that the relationship between teachers’ emotional support and female students’ self–concept (r=0.275, p<0.001) and self–esteem (r=0.135, p=0.049) was positive and statistically significant. The results of the simple linear regression analysis indicated that teachers’ emotional support played a significant role in predicting and explaining self–concept (β=0.135, p=0.049) and self–esteem (β=0.275, p<0.001) among female students in the first course of high school. The adjusted coefficient of determination showed that 1.4% of the variance in self–concept and 7.1% of the variance in self–esteem could be explained by teachers’ emotional support.

Conclusion: Based on the study results, teachers’ emotional support predicts the self–concept and self–esteem in female students in the first course of high school. Accordingly, emphasis is placed on incorporating the construct of emotional support into educational materials, curriculum planning, and in–service training programs for teachers.