Self-esteem in Recovered Bipolar and Unipolar Out-patients

Abstract

The hypothesis of a low self-esteem in depressive patients was tested using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale in 24 recovered unipolar and 27 recovered bipolar patients, compared with a normal control group of 26 subjects matched for age and sex. The hypothesis was confirmed only for unipolars; bipolar patients presented a self-esteem score not significantly different from normal scores. Self-esteem was not related to clinical characteristics of the affective disorder, suggesting that low self-esteem may be a basic component of a depression-prone personality. The investigation of the relationship between self-esteem and social adjustment confirmed the presence of social conformism in bipolar patients and rigidly set low self-esteem in unipolar patients. These results should stimulate the evaluation of different psychotherapeutic treatments in the long-term psychosocial management of affectively ill patients.

Self-esteem, social adjustment and suicidality in affective disorders

“…The findings relevant to self-esteem are in line with previous studies in which the self-esteem of UP patients during remission was consistently found to be lower in comparison to that of controls [8,16,17]. For BP disorder, patients' self-esteem was not different than that of controls in one study [8], but was lower in two other studies [16,17].…”

“…Population differences among studies may explain the discrepancies regarding self-esteem in BP patients, since it has been supported that the concept of self-esteem is under strong cultural influence [38]. Indeed, the studies with the positive findings were conducted on Italian and Jewish populations [16,17], while the negative results referred to Belgian [8] and Greek subjects in the present study. Self-esteem in UP patients, in contrast, seems to be independent of the origin of the sample.…”

“…For BP disorder, patients' self-esteem was not different than that of controls in one study [8], but was lower in two other studies [16,17]. Population differences among studies may explain the discrepancies regarding self-esteem in BP patients, since it has been supported that the concept of self-esteem is under strong cultural influence [38].…”

“…Self-esteem during the periods of remission was found in previous studies to be lower in unipolar (UP) and/or bipolar (BP) patients compared to controls [8,16,17].…”

“…On the other hand, the role of various environmental and psychosocial factors in the development and expression of the disorder should not be underestimated. Among these factors, self-esteem and social adjustment have been reported to influence the onset and course of affective disorder [6][7][8].…”