The Long-term Effects of Self-Esteem on Depression: The Roles of Alcohol and Substance Use During Young Adulthood
Summary & key facts
This long-term study used U.S. national survey data to look at how self-esteem in young adulthood is linked to depression later in life. The researchers found that, for men, alcohol and other substance use in young adulthood helped explain (mediated) the link between low self-esteem and later depression. Self-esteem in young adulthood also predicted higher depression in middle adulthood. The same mediation effect was not found for women.
- The study used data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 (NLSY79).
- For men, alcohol and substance use during young adulthood mediated the effect of self-esteem on later depression (the mediator helped explain the link).
- Self-esteem measured in young adulthood remained a predictor of higher depression in middle adulthood.
- The researchers did not find evidence that alcohol and substance use mediated the self-esteem–depression link for women.
- The article was published in 2017 in Sociological Quarterly.
Abstract
Using the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979, this study examines the roles of alcohol and substance use as mediators in the mechanism between self-esteem and depression, and investigates whether the mechanism works for both men and women. Results demonstrate that alcohol and substance use during young adulthood mediates the effect of self-esteem on depression among men. Furthermore, self-esteem during young adulthood remains a determinant of high depression in middle adulthood. However, we did not find evidence to support that same mechanism among women. Our findings provide insight into how self-esteem affects depression over the transition from young to middle adulthood, and elucidate potential gendered responsivity to low self-esteem.
