Gender differences in the relationship between self-esteem and depression among college students: A cross-lagged study from China

Social Achievement Goals in Chinese Undergraduates: Associations With Self-Esteem and Symptoms of Social Anxiety and Depression

“…The study also explored whether the relationships between social achievement goals and the concurrent and longitudinal social anxiety and depression symptoms were mediated by self-esteem and whether the chain effects of self-esteem and the initial levels of social anxiety and depression symptoms existed between the links from social achievement goals to the subsequent psychopathology symptoms. As presented in previous studies (Shim and Ryan, 2012 ; Shim et al, 2012 , 2017 ; Hiller et al, 2017 ; Gao et al, 2022 ), meaningful associations were found between social achievement goals, self-esteem, and concurrent and longitudinal social anxiety and depression symptoms, which provided insight into potential risk factors and resources for undergraduates' affective wellbeing. In particular, self-esteem was found to mediate the majority of associations between social achievement goals and the concurrent and longitudinal social anxiety and depression symptoms.…”

“…As the theories (Beck, 1967 ; Clark and Wells, 1995 ) and empirical studies (Cheng et al, 2015 ; Li et al, 2015 ; Abdollahi and Abu Talib, 2016 ; Rieger et al, 2016 ; Hiller et al, 2017 ; Gao et al, 2022 ) suggested, low self-esteem increases the risks of experiencing social anxiety and depression symptoms in the current study. The findings support the proposed mediation effects of self-esteem on the links from three types of social achievement goals to the concurrent and longitudinal social anxiety and depression symptoms except on the links from social mastery goals and social performance-approach goals to the longitudinal social anxiety symptoms.…”

“…Theories from the cognitive perspective, which propose that the negative beliefs of the self in social situations are risk factors for the development of social anxiety and depression (Beck, 1967 ; Clark and Wells, 1995 ), provide insights for the study of the etiology of affective disorders. Youth with low self-esteem from Western and Chinese societies are more likely to exhibit social anxiety (Shim and Ryan, 2012 ; Cheng et al, 2015 ; Abdollahi and Abu Talib, 2016 ; Hiller et al, 2017 ) and depressive symptoms (Li et al, 2015 ; Rieger et al, 2016 ; Gao et al, 2022 ).…”

“…For example, the pursuit of different achievement goals in developing and maintaining social relationships has been connected with undergraduates' social anxiety and depressive symptoms (Kuroda and Sakurai, 2011 ; Shim and Ryan, 2012 ). Self-esteem, which signifies the overall sense of self-evaluation people make across various situations (James, 1890 ), is another solid contributor to social anxiety and depression (Schreiber et al, 2012 ; Hiller et al, 2017 ; Kim and Moore, 2019 ; Gao et al, 2022 ). Undergraduates, who endorse different achievement goals toward social competence (Ryan and Shim, 2006 ), are experiencing a critical period of identity exploration and consolidation (Arnett, 2000 ).…”

Longitudinal Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Academic Self-Efficacy Among College Students in China: Evidence From a Cross-Lagged Model

“…Participants in this study were 2473 full-time students (1166 females and 1307 males) admitted into 15 public universities in 2008 at Beijing in China, belonging to different fields of specialization such as science and engineering, social sciences, and humanities. More detailed information on the data was elaborated in Gao et al (2020 , 2022) and Liu et al (2019a , b) . The Beijing College Students Panel Survey (BCSPS) followed these students over the four academic years and collected their information including their self-esteem and academic self-efficacy yearly.…”