Depressive symptoms in university freshmen: Longitudinal relations with contingent self-esteem and level of self-esteem

Why the belief in one's equal rights matters: Self-respect, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation in Western and non-Western countries

The present research investigated the relationship between self-respect (i.e., a person's belief of possessing the same rights as others) and depressive symptoms. Based on earlier longitudinal findings that self-respect fosters assertiveness and that assertiveness negatively predicts depressive symptoms, we tested these relationships in Western and non-Western countries. Additionally, we explored associations with suicidal ideation. Across seven countries (N = 2408) we found that self-respect and depressive symptoms were negatively correlated. In addition, we found evidence for an indirect path via assertiveness as well as negative correlations with suicidal ideation in countries with available measures. Finally, within-manuscript meta-analyses confirmed the main path between self-respect and depressive symptoms across all seven countries. This research presents the first evidence for the negative association between self-respect (feeling equal to others) and depressive symptoms and highlights new directions for linking self and self-regard to mental health.

Prospective relationships between college adjustment, self-esteem, and mental health status among Chinese undergraduates

Objective: This three-wave longitudinal study tested the prospective relationships between college adjustment, self-esteem, and mental health status (ie, subjective well-being, anxiety, and depression). Participants: The study recruited 265 Chinese undergraduate students. Methods: Demographic, college adjustment, self-esteem, and mental health status data were collected. Results: College adjustment and self-esteem were moderate in magnitude and maintained a reasonable stability over time. College adjustment and self-esteem at Year 1 and Year 2, and mental health status at Year 3, were significantly correlated with each other. College adjustment at Year 1 and Year 2, and self-esteem at Year 1 significantly predicted mental health status at Year 3. Conclusions: Interventions to improve self-esteem and college adjustment may benefit long-term mental health outcomes.

Global and appearance-contingent self-esteem: Associations with health and attractiveness exercise reasons

Whilst some individuals exercise for health-related reasons, others appear to exercise to bolster physical attractiveness. For the latter, this is often attributed to dissatisfaction with appearance. Few studies, however, have explored if differences in self-esteem may relate to diverse exercise reasons. The present study investigated whether global self-esteem, appearance-contingent self-worth, and appearance satisfaction may be differentially associated with health and attractiveness exercise reasons. It was further sought to explore whether these relations coincided with different motivational regulations. Adults from the east midlands of the United Kingdom (N = 209; 75% female, 25% male; mean age = 29.77 years) completed measures relating to their global and appearance-contingent self-esteem, appearance satisfaction, exercise intentions, and motivations. Structural equation modelling revealed that global self-esteem was positively associated with appearance satisfaction and health reasons for exercise, whereas appearance-contingent self-esteem related to lower appearance satisfaction and attractiveness reasons. Appearance satisfaction had no association with either exercise reason but was associated with intrinsic motivation and lower controlled exercise motivations. Health exercise reasons were positively associated with intrinsic, identified, and introjected motivation, whereas attractiveness reasons were exclusively related to external motivation. The findings highlight the conceptual importance of differentiating the level and contingency of exercisers' self-esteem. The findings may also have substantive value for exercise practitioners in understanding different reasons for exercise.

Contingent self-worth and depression in early adolescents: The role of psychological inflexibility as a mediator

This study investigated whether lower psychological flexibility (psychological inflexibility) mediates the relationship between contingent self-worth and depressive symptoms among Japanese adolescents. A total of 210 Japanese junior high school students aged 12 to 15 years (106 boys and 104 girls) were recruited for this study. Participants completed the Japanese adaptations of the Self-Worth Contingency Questionnaire, the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth, and the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children. Results indicated that psychological inflexibility mediated the association between contingent self-worth and depressive symptoms. Specifically, contingent self-worth affected lower psychological flexibility, which influenced higher depressive symptoms. The results highlight the importance of fostering autonomy and promoting psychological flexibility to reduce the risk of depression among adolescents.

Public health nurses' professional dignity: An interview study in Finland

BACKGROUND

Dignity is a central human value supported by nurses' professional ethics. In previous studies, nurses in clinical practice have experienced that dignity increased their work well-being and pride of work. Dignity is also strictly interweaved to professional identity in the different nursing' roles, but little is known about dignity among public health nurses and primary care settings.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to describe the perceptions of nursing's professional dignity of public health nurses in primary care in Finland.

RESEARCH DESIGN

An inductive qualitative descriptive approach with semi-structured focus group interviews was utilised.

PARTICIPANTS AND RESEARCH CONTEXT

Twenty-seven Finnish public health nurses were interviewed via eight semi-structured focus group interviews in primary health care settings.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Before data collection, research permissions were obtained from participating health care centres. This type of research in Finland, with competent adult participants, does not require ethical pre-assessment but written and oral informed consent obtained before the interviews.

FINDINGS

Based on our findings, public health nurses perceived that professional dignity was (1) part of their self-respect, an observed daily value based on their acknowledged competence. Besides, they perceived that (2) service users' trust in public health nurses was a strong expression of professional dignity, and it could be uncovered when recipients of care utilised their services. In addition, public health nurses experienced that (3) professional dignity was an expression of different intertwined interprofessional and social factors.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Professional dignity is simultaneously an essential prerequisite and an outcome of public health nurses' work. In future, more information would be needed to implement strategies in primary health care to foster nurses' professional dignity also in international public health arenas.

Kann die Schule die Selbstwertentwicklung Jugendlicher positiv beeinflussen?

Zusammenfassung. Die drei Grundbedürfnisse Autonomie, Kompetenzwahrnehmung und soziale Eingebundenheit wurden wiederholt als mögliche Determinanten eines globalen Selbstwerts untersucht. Doch nur wenige dieser Untersuchungen erfassen explizit eine mehrjährige Selbstwertentwicklung und die Rolle der Schule bei der Erfüllung der Grundbedürfnisse während der Adoleszenz. In der vorliegenden Studie werden die Angaben von 334 Schüler*innen zur Gewährung von Autonomie durch die Lehrkräfte sowie deren Kompetenzrückmeldungen und die soziale Eingebundenheit in der Schulklasse zur Vorhersage der nachfolgenden Selbstwertentwicklung genutzt. Dabei lässt sich zunächst eine tendenziell dichotome Unterscheidung in einen über Jahre stabilen gegenüber einem abnehmenden Selbstwert ermitteln. Von den drei Grundbedürfnissen führt nur ein höheres Ausmaß an Autonomie (5. Schuljahr) zu einer höheren Wahrscheinlichkeit einer stabilen Selbstwertentwicklung vom fünften bis zehnten Schuljahr (6 Messzeitpunkte), und dies bei geschlechtergetrennter Berechnung nur bei den Mädchen. Cross-Lagged-Panel-Modelle bestätigen dieses Ergebnis als einseitigen und ungewöhnlich deutlichen Effekt.

Trust Buffers Against Reduced Life Satisfaction When Faced With Financial Crisis

Background: In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its large economic consequences, we used a three-layer nested structural model (individual, community, and country), each with a corresponding measure of income, trust, and satisfaction, to assess change in their interrelationships following a global crisis; which, in this study, is the 2008/2009 financial crisis. Methods: With multilevel techniques, we analyzed data from two waves (2006 and 2012) of the European Social Survey (ESS) in 19 countries (weighted N = 73,636) grouped according to their levels of trust. Results: In high trust countries, personal life satisfaction (LS) was not related to personal, community, or national income before or after the crisis. In contrast, in low trust countries, LS was strongly related to all three forms of income, especially after the crisis. In all country groups, personal, social, and political trust moderated their respective effects of income on LS ("the buffer hypothesis"). Political trust moderated the effects of income more strongly in low trust countries. The moderating effect of political trust increased sharply after the crisis. After the crisis, national-level factors (e.g., political trust, national income) increased their importance for LS more than the factors at the local and individual levels. However, the relative importance of all the three forms of income to LS increased after the crisis, to the detriment of trust. Conclusion: Economic crises seem to influence personal LS less in high trust countries compared with low trust countries. Hence, high trust at a national level appears to buffer the negative impact of a financial crisis on personal satisfaction. Overall, the factors at the national level increased their impact during the financial crisis. When facing a global crisis, the actions taken by institutions at the country level may, thus, become even more important than those taken before the crisis.

Beyond level of self-esteem: exploring the interplay of level, stability, and contingency of self-esteem, mediating factors, and academic achievement

Self-esteem plays a decisive role for students in achievement situations. However, it is still unclear how different self-esteem facets and their interactions influence academic achievement and which psychological mechanisms mediate these relationships. In Study 1, we investigated self-handicapping and effort-management as mediators of the effects of self-esteem facets on academic Study 2 achievement in a sample of N = 600 university students, while in we examined test anxiety as mediating variable in a sample of N = 1052 school students. Path analyses revealed various relations between self-esteem facets, learning strategies, test anxiety, and academic achievement. Moreover, effort-management and test anxiety were identified as meaningful mediators of the effects of self-esteem facets. Implications for further research and for educational practice are discussed.

Loneliness as a mediator for college students' social skills and experiences of depression and anxiety

INTRODUCTION

Rates of anxiety and depression are increasing among college undergraduates. Existing research has demonstrated a link between social skills and mental health outcomes. This study explores the relationship between verbal social skills (encoding and decoding) and anxiety and depression by measuring the extent to which loneliness mediates these relationships.

METHODS

Baseline data from a cross-sequential study exploring college student mental health was used to analyze social skills, loneliness, as well as, depression and anxiety. A diverse group of students (n = 2,054; M = 19.95; SD = 1.26) participated from two residential colleges in the United States.

RESULTS

Six mediation models were estimated, separately testing whether loneliness mediated the relationship between anxiety and depression and social expressiveness, sensitivity, and control. All six found that (a) anxiety and depression were separately predicted by the verbal encoding skills of social expressivity and social control and the decoding skill of social sensitivity, and (b) all of those relationships were mediated by loneliness. These models accounted for 37-38% of the variability in scores of depression and 17-20% of the variability in scores of anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicate verbal social skills play an important role in students experience of loneliness as well as depression and anxiety. Improving the social skills of students should be considered by colleges seeking to reduce the mental health burdens experienced by their students.

Contingencies of Self-Worth on Positive and Negative Events and Their Relationships to Depression

Previous studies have found that the relationship between contingencies of self-worth (CSW) and depression was generally weak. We posited that this is partly because previous studies assumed CSW on positive and negative events as the same construct (one-dimensional CSW), which should be better conceptualized as two distinctive dimensions (two-dimensional CSW) in explaining depression. A total of 393 undergraduates from Taiwan completed the measures regarding one-dimensional CSW, two-dimensional CSW, and depression. After dividing CSW of seven classic domains into two dimensions of positive and negative CSW, the results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that the two-dimensional CSW model had better model fit than the one-dimensional model in all domains. Furthermore, relative to using one-dimensional CSW as a predictor of depression, the variance accounted for largely increased when positive and negative CSW entered simultaneously in the regression equation. The results suggest that CSW on positive and negative events should be seen as two dimensions and this perspective may largely increase the explanatory power of CSW in explaining mental health.

Authenticity as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Power Contingent Self-Esteem and Subjective Well-Being

Drawing on Eastern wisdom and Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan, 1995), the current study conceptualized a new form of maladaptive self-esteem, the power contingent self-esteem, which is extremely contingent on one's sense of power, and posits it is related to low subjective well-being by making people experience less authenticity. In Study 1, we found that general power contingent self-esteem was consistently linked to low subjective well-being. More importantly, the negative relationship between power contingent self-esteem and subjective well-being was mediated by authenticity. Study 2 further confirmed the mediation effect between power contingent self-esteem role and satisfaction through authenticity across four different roles (work, romance, friendship, and parent-child relationships). The finding of the negative relationship between power contingent self-esteem and subjective well-being via authenticity contributes to understanding the complicated association between power, self-esteem, and life satisfaction.

Structure of Contingent Self-Esteem

Abstract. Contingent Self-Esteem (CSE) has been conceptualized in two different ways in the literature. Some theorists have emphasized that self-esteem may be generally dependent on external outcomes, while others have argued that people’s self-esteem is contingent on experiences related to specific domains (e.g., academic performance). However, relying on a particular definition of CSE may lead to different consequences for both research and practice. In this article, we sought to clarify whether contingent self-esteem represents a global, domain-specific, or hierarchically organized construct. Three large samples of German college students responded to two popular contingent self-esteem instruments and various validity measures. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses clearly favored a domain-specific model over unidimensional and hierarchical models. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses in Study 3 indicated that participants’ depression and other important life outcomes could be better predicted by domain-specific facets than by global scores of contingent self-esteem. Compared to previous research, our findings provide a more thorough empirical and conceptual basis for favoring a domain-specific approach to contingent self-esteem. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

Contingent self-worth moderates the relationship between school stressors and psychological stress responses

This study examined the moderating role of contingent self-worth on the relationships between school stressors and psychological stress responses among Japanese adolescents. A total of 371 Japanese junior high school students (184 boys and 187 girls, M_age = 12.79 years, SD = 0.71) completed the Japanese version of the Self-Worth Contingency Questionnaire and a mental health checklist at two points separated by a two-month interval. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were then used to determine whether contingent self-worth moderated the relationship between school stressors and psychological stress responses. The results indicated that, when psychological stress responses were controlled for at Time 1, contingent self-worth did not predict the psychological stress responses at Time 2. However, a two-way interaction between contingent self-worth and stressors was found to significantly influence psychological stress responses, thus indicating that stressors had a stronger impact on psychological stress responses among those with high contingent self-worth compared to those with low contingent self-worth.

The Pursuit of Self-Esteem and Its Motivational Implications

Although recent studies have found contingent self-esteem (CSE) to be negatively related to individuals’ well-being, research concerning its implications for motivation and engagement is scarce. In two studies, we investigated the relation between CSE, motivation, and engagement in achievement-related situations. A first cross-sectional study among second year high school students (N = 641; 54.1% female) confirmed the hypothesized motivational ambiguity associated with academic CSE. Beyond the contribution of academic self-esteem, academic CSE was positively related to behavioral and emotional engagement, but also to emotional disaffection and test anxiety. These associations could partially be explained by motivational quality, as CSE was also positively related to both autonomous and controlled types of motivation. In a second experimental study among university students (N = 72; 70.8% female), who participated in a tangram puzzle task under varying feedback circumstances, global CSE related to more tension, while predicting less behavioral task perseverance. These effects were not moderated by the type of feedback provided (i.e., positive vs. negative). Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Contingent self-esteem and vulnerability to depression: academic contingent self-esteem predicts depressive symptoms in students

Low self-esteem has been established as a vulnerability factor for depression. In line with recent research, we suggest that a full understanding of the role of self-esteem in depression requires consideration of contingent self-esteem as well. For most people, competence is an important source of self-esteem. Students in particular link their self-esteem to academic competence. To test the hypothesis that academic contingent self-esteem (aCSE) predicts depressive symptoms (DS), two studies were conducted. Preceding the investigation of our hypothesis, the first purpose of Study 1 was to describe the development of aCSE, self-esteem (SE) level, and DS in adolescence in a sample of German students aged 10-16 (N = 1888) in order to provide a foundation for further analyses. Then, to address the main question, age and gender differences in aCSE, SE level, and DS as well as their relations were investigated. The results show that (1) gender differences emerged after the age of 10/11. Girls scored higher on aCSE and DS and lower on SE level than did boys, and aCSE and DS decreased and SE level increased over time in boys, while the rather disadvantageous pattern in girls remained stable. (2) After controlling for SE level and aCSE, the effects of gender and age × gender interaction on DS disappeared, suggesting an influence of aCSE on DS. (3) aCSE predicted DS over and above SE level. Since the results of Study 1 did not allow for causal conclusions, a longitudinal study (N = 160) was conducted to further investigate the causal role of aCSE. According to the diathesis-stress model, aCSE was expected to serve as a diathesis for developing DS in the face of academic stress (daily hassles) during an academic semester at university. The results of Study 2 revealed that aCSE interacted with corresponding hassles to predict increases in DS. High levels of academic stress led to increases in DS only among students who strongly based their SE on academic competence. Implications for prevention and intervention of depression are discussed.