A Correlational Analysis of the Relationship between Depression and Self-Esteem among School Students.

Abstract

Depression and self-esteem are two of the most clinically and educationally significant psychological constructs in the study of adolescent mental health. The present study examined the relationship between depression and self-esteem among school students, with additional investigation of gender differences in these variables. Using a correlational research design, a sample of 150 students aged 13–18 years was recruited through simple random sampling. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDIII; Beck et al., 1996) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg, 1965) were administered as the primary assessment instruments. Pearson's product-moment correlation was employed to assess the strength and direction of the association between depression and self-esteem, while independent-samples t-tests were used to examine gender differences. The findings revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between depression and self-esteem, r(148) = −.19, p = .022, indicating that students with lower self-esteem tended to report higher depressive symptomatology. No significant gender differences were observed in either variable. The findings are discussed in light of existing theoretical frameworks, including Beck's (1967) cognitive theory of depression, the vulnerability– scar model (Sowislo & Orth, 2013), hopelessness theory (Abramson et al., 1989), developmental self-concept theory (Harter, 2012), the diathesis–stress model (Monroe & Simons, 1991), and sociometer theory (Leary & Baumeister, 2000). The study contributes to the understanding of mental health dynamics in school-age populations and has implications for school-based screening, prevention, and intervention programmes.