Citation

Whitney SD, Sullivan S, Herman K. Adv. Sch. Ment. Health Promot. 2010; 3(2): 5-16.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa-Taylor and Francis)

DOI

10.1080/1754730X.2010.9715676

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Early diagnosis and treatment of depression are central to overcoming its negative sequelae, especially in children and young people. Low self-esteem and depression commonly co-occur, and some evidence suggests that low self-esteem may precede development of depressive symptoms. This study explores the relationship between low self-esteem and later depressive symptoms in a large, nationally representative, longitudinal database for the whole sample, in males and females and among different racial/ethnic groups. Low self-esteem was measured in Wave 1 to predict depressive symptoms in Wave 2, one year later, while controlling for initial depressive symptoms, as well as age, income and biological sex (gender).

RESULTS provided evidence of a unique relationship between self-esteem and depressive symptoms over time that was not contingent on gender or race/ethnicity. Implications for the possible development of an early screening measure for depression risk in school mental health are discussed.

Language: en

Keywords

ADOLESCENTS; BIOLOGICAL SEX DIFFERENCES; DEPRESSION; RACE/ETHNICITY; SELF-ESTEEM