306766
Threat, Self-Esteem & Emotional Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood
B. Warren, E. Lopez, M. Schumacher, & M. Vosvick
University of North Texas
The Diathesis Stress Model posits that perceived impact (i.e., threat) of stressful life events influences well-being more negatively than their quantity (Burns & Machin, 2013). We hypothesize threat and self-esteem account for a significant proportion of variance in emerging adults’ emotional well-being and self-esteem moderates the relationship between threat and emotional well-being.
Psychometrically sound instruments used in our study include: the threat subscale (α =.89) of the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM; Peacock, & Wong, 1990); the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (α =.78) (RSES; Rosenberg, Schooler, & Schoenback, 1989); and the emotional well-being subscale (α =.85) of the Short Form 36 (SF36; Ware & Sherbourne, 1992).
Our gender balanced sample (N=400) was primarily European American (57.8%) with a mean age of 21 (SD = 21.1, range = 18-56 years). We found significant negative relationships between threat and emotional well-being (r = -.31, p < .01), as well as threat and self-esteem (r = -.24, p < .01), and a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and emotional well-being (r = .45, p < .01). Self-esteem and threat accounted for 24% of the variance in emotional well-being (F(2, 397)= 63.6, p < .01). The interaction between threat and self-esteem accounted for an additional 1.2% of the variance (F(3, 396)= 45.5, p < .01), suggesting a significant moderating effect.
Our results suggest that practitioners should assess self-esteem in stress reduction treatment for emerging adults.
Learning Areas:
Social and behavioral sciencesLearning Objectives:
Assess the relationship between self-esteem and threat when developing care plans for stress reduction in emerging adults.
Keyword(s): Mental Health, Well-Being
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an undergraduate researcher in the Center for Psychosocial Health Research at the University of North Texas. I am a senior undergraduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas. My research interests include the development of strategies for stress reduction in diverse populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.