Abstract
Much research has examined the interplay of depression and self-esteem in an effort to determine whether depression causes self-esteem (scar model), or vice versa (vulnerability model). In the current longitudinal study (N = 2,318), we tested whether neuroticism served as a confounding variable that accounted for the association of depression and self-esteem, using both cross-lag models and latent growth models. We found neuroticism accounted for the majority of covariance between depression and self-esteem, to the degree that the scar and vulnerability models appear to be inadequate explanations for the relation between depression and self-esteem. Alternatively, neuroticism appears to be a viable cause of both depression and self-esteem and could explain prior work linking the two constructs over time.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 11 |
| Journal | Collabra: Psychology |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
Funding
Sven Rieger was a doctoral student at the LEAD Graduate School & Research Network [GSC1028] at the time of the study, who was funded by the Excellence Initiative of the German federal and state governments. This work was supported by a grant to Ulrich Trautwein from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-W?rttemberg (Az: 33-7532.20/735). This work was supported by a grant to Ulrich Trautwein from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg (Az: 33-7532.20/735).
Keywords
- Depression
- Neuroticism
- Scar model
- Self-esteem
- Vulnerability model
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology