Vulnerability, scar, or reciprocal risk? Temporal ordering of self-esteem and depressive symptoms over 25 years

Authors

  • Matthew D Johnson University of Alberta
  • Nancy L Galambos University of Alberta
  • Harvey J Krahn University of Alberta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14301/llcs.v7i4.394

Keywords:

depressive symptoms, longitudinal, mental health, reciprocal risk, scar model, self-esteem, vulnerability model

Abstract

Three models have been proposed to explain the temporal interrelation between self-esteem and symptoms of depression: vulnerability (self-esteem predicts future depressive symptoms), scar (depressive symptoms predict future self-esteem), and reciprocal risk (self-esteem and depressive symptoms predict each other in the future). This study tested these three models over 25 years in a sample of high school seniors surveyed six times from age 18 to 43 (n = 978) and in a separate sample of university graduates surveyed five times from age 23 to 30 (n = 589). In both samples, autoregressive cross-lagged modeling results were that self-esteem and symptoms of depression prospectively predicted each other at every measurement occasion. Additionally, the cross-lagged association from self-esteem to symptoms of depression and the corresponding link from depressive symptoms to future self-esteem were equally strong. These results provide support for the reciprocal risk model.

Author Biographies

Matthew D Johnson, University of Alberta

Matt Johnson is an assistant professor of family ecology.

Nancy L Galambos, University of Alberta

Nancy Galambos is a professor of psychology.

Harvey J Krahn, University of Alberta

Harvey Krahn is a professor of sociology.

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Published

2016-10-26

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 4 (2016): Longitudinal and Life Course Studies

Section

Papers

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