Dishonesty among adolescents; prevalence, predictors and relation to self-esteem; A cross-sectional study

Background: Adolescence is characterized by significant biological, psychological, and social transitions. Dishonesty is one of the most widespread issues today. This study aims to assess dishonesty prevalence, risk factors, and the relation to self-esteem.Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 279 adolescents at Abu-Hammad district commercial high schools during the academic year 2024- 2025. All students, after obtaining informed consent from their guardians, filled out an interview questionnaire for personal data, an assessment of dishonesty (including dishonest behavior such as lying, cheating, stealing, plagiarism, and withholding information), and the Rosenberg self-esteem questionnaire.Results: about 57% were male and 62.7% were over 16 years old. About 54% had low self-esteem. Concerning domains of dishonesty, 67.7%, 71.3%, 30.5%, 21.1% and 27.7% frequently lie, cheat, steal, adopt plagiarism and withhold information respectively and overall, 29.7% had dishonest discipline Overall, 29.7% had dishonest discipline There is a statistically significant relation between dishonesty in adolescent and gender, father education, father occupation, mother occupation, mother occupation, family income and residence. Multivariate analysis confirmed that being male, having a low family income, and lower levels of self-esteem were independently associated with a higher risk of dishonesty Conclusion: Dishonest discipline, with its different aspects, is a frequent social problem that should be given sufficient attention. Male gender, low family income, and lower self-esteem were predictors of dishonesty among adolescents. Family physicians as care providers should screen adolescents for dishonesty and should communicate with community leaders to design a campaign to address this ethical problem