The Long-term Effects of Self-Esteem on Depression: The Roles of Alcohol and Substance Use During Young Adulthood

Summary & key facts

This study followed people from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 to see how self-esteem in young adulthood links to depression later on. The authors found that, for men, alcohol and drug use in young adulthood partly explained how low self-esteem led to more depression. They also found that self-esteem in young adulthood was linked to higher depression in middle adulthood. The same mediation pattern was not found for women.

Key facts:

• The study used the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979 (a long-term, national cohort) to examine links between self-esteem, alcohol/substance use, and depression.
• Among men, alcohol and substance use during young adulthood mediated the effect of self-esteem on depression (meaning these behaviors partly explained 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 Sociological Quarterly in 2017 (PMCID: PMC5602593).

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.

Topics

Behavioral Health and Interventions Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

Categories

Psychology Social Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Alcohol Biochemistry Chemistry Clinical psychology Demographic economics Demography Depression (economics) Developmental psychology Economics Epistemology Longitudinal data Longitudinal study Macroeconomics Mechanism (biology) Medicine National Longitudinal Surveys Pathology Philosophy Psychology Self-esteem Sociology Substance use Young adult