Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development

  • Year: 2019
  • Volume: 10
  • Issue: 6

Are Depressive Symptoms Linked to Self-esteem? A Study on University Students

  • Author:
  • Nabila Mohd Nazari1, Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus2,, Umar Haiyat Abdul Kohar3, Siti Khadijah Zainal Badri4, Nor A'tikah binti Mat Ali5
  • Total Page Count: 5
  • Page Number: 1390 to 1394

1Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

2Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

3Senior Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

4Assistant Professor, Division of Organisational and Applied Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, 43500, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia

5Senior Lecturer, Department of Applied Psychology, College of Arts and Science, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia

*Corresponding Author: Dr. Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, School of Human Resource Development and Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia. Email: wmohdazam@utm.my

Online published on 11 July, 2019.

Abstract

Everyday experiences suggest that individual who often feel dejected from daily life and often feel sad and lonely tend to have low self-esteem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between depressive symptoms and self-esteem among university students. A total number of 120 respondents participated in this cross-sectional study. The Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was used to measure the level of depressive symptoms and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) was used to measure the respondents’ self-esteem. Data collected was analysed by utilizing Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0. Students were reported to experience mild level of depression (Overall BDI-II mean=15.75) and possesses moderate level of self-esteem (Overall RSES mean=16.8). Notably, this study had found a weak negative relationship between depressive symptoms and self-esteem (r=-0.222, p=0.015). It can be concluded that the higher level of depressive symptoms is linked to lower level of self-esteem among university students. Hence, appropriate prevention strategies are crucial for both; university students who possess low self-esteem as well as those who experience high level of depression symptoms.

Keywords

Depressive Symptoms, Self-esteem, University students, Cross-sectional