title: Vulnerable self-esteem and depressive symptoms: prospective findings comparing three alternative conceptualizations.
abstract: Across diverse theoretical orientations, vulnerable self-esteem (SE) is thought to act as a diathesis for depression after life stress. In the present study, the roles of trait-level SE, low SE primed by depressed mood, and labile SE in prospectively predicting changes in depressive symptoms in a nonclinical sample (n = 192) were examined. Results indicated that labile SE predicted increases in symptoms. Furthermore, a 3-way interaction (Labile SE x Academic Stress x Initial Depression) suggested that in Ss who were initially asymptomatic, lability made Ss differentially vulnerable to increases in depressive symptoms after stress. In contrast to labile SE, trait-level SE and priming of low SE were relatively weak predictors of changes in depressive symptoms and did not interact with stress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Monroe
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept