Citation

Creemers DHM, Scholte RHJ, Engels RCME, Prinstein MJ, Wiers RW. J. Behav. Ther. Exp. Psychiatry 2012; 43(1): 638-646.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jbtep.2011.09.006

PMID

21946041

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to examine whether explicit and implicit self-esteem, the interaction between these two constructs, and their discrepancy are associated with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and loneliness. Participants were 95 young female adults (M = 21.2 years, SD = 1.88) enrolled in higher education. We administered the Name Letter Task to measure implicit self-esteem, and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale to assess explicit self-esteem. The results indicated that explicit but not implicit self-esteem was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and loneliness. The interaction of implicit and explicit self-esteem was associated with suicidal ideation, indicating that participants with high implicit self-esteem combined with a low explicit self-esteem showed more suicidal ideation. Furthermore, the size of the discrepancy between implicit and explicit self-esteem was positively associated with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and loneliness. In addition, results showed that the direction of the discrepancy is an important: damaged self-esteem (high implicit self-esteem combined with low explicit self-esteem) was consistently associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and loneliness, while defensive or fragile self-esteem (high explicit and low implicit self-esteem) was not. Together, these findings provide new insights into the relationship of implicit and explicit self-esteem with depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and loneliness.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Female; Male; Self Concept; Adolescent; Depression; Young Adult; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Suicidal Ideation; Loneliness; Personality Inventory; Linear Models; Predictive Value of Tests; Association