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Investigating the protective role of global self-esteem on the relationship between stressful life events and depression: A longitudinal moderated regression model

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Abstract

The present study was aimed at investigating the protective role of Global Self-Esteem (GSE) on the relationship between stressful life events and depression. A longitudinal research design, including two measurement occasions with a two-month interval was applied on a sample of 95 university students (80 females) with a mean age of 22.49 (SD = 6.77). A series of scales were administered in both occasions: the Daily Event Checklist (DEC), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale(RSES) and the Center of Epidemiological Study Depression Scale (CES_D). Longitudinal moderated regression models were performed, including DEC, RSES and their interaction (DEC x RSES) as predictors, the baseline level of CES_D as a covariate and the final level of CES_D as criterion. Results showed a negative and significant interaction between predictors, indicating that the prospective effect of stressful life events on depression become weaker as self-esteem increases. Specifically, the detrimental effect of stressful daily life events was observed only at low levels of self-esteem. Similar results were found when a bi-factorial model was applied to the RSES, with the aim to obtain an unbiased estimate of GSE, controlling for potential method effects due to item wording. The main strengths and weaknesses of the study were discussed.

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Notes

  1. In previous studies (e.g. Brown 2010) which tested the protective role of general self-esteem on different outcomes, the R2 change due to the interaction term is usually located between low and medium values (.02 < f2 < .15).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, via degli Apuli, 1, Rome, Italy

    Francesco Dentale

  2. Department of Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Michele Vecchione

  3. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Guido Alessandri & Claudio Barbaranelli

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  1. Francesco Dentale
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  2. Michele Vecchione
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  3. Guido Alessandri
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  4. Claudio Barbaranelli
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Correspondence to Francesco Dentale.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Dentale, F., Vecchione, M., Alessandri, G. et al. Investigating the protective role of global self-esteem on the relationship between stressful life events and depression: A longitudinal moderated regression model. Curr Psychol 39, 2096–2107 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9889-4

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