title: Low self-esteem is a risk factor for depressive symptoms from young adulthood to old age.
abstract: Data from two large longitudinal studies were used to analyze reciprocal relations between self-esteem and depressive symptoms across the adult life span. Study 1 included 1,685 participants aged 18 to 96 years assessed 4 times over a 9-year period. Study 2 included 2,479 participants aged 18 to 88 years assessed 3 times over a 4-year period. In both studies, cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that low self-esteem predicted subsequent depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms did not predict subsequent levels of self-esteem. This pattern of results replicated across all age groups, for both affective-cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression, and after controlling for content overlap between the self-esteem and depression scales. The results suggest that low self-esteem operates as a risk factor for depressive symptoms at all phases of the adult life span.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, California, USA. ulrich.orth@psy.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Orth
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: Kali H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Trzesniewski
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maes
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmitt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D012649:Self Concept; D055815:Young Adult