The Association of Level and Stability of Self-Esteem and Depressive Symptoms in the Acute Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Setting.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Vickery, Chad D.; Sepehri, Arash; Evans, Clea C.; Lee, Jae Eun
- Source
- Rehabilitation Psychology. May2008, Vol. 53 Issue 2, p171-179. 9p. 4 Charts.
- Subject
- *SELF-esteem
*MENTAL depression
*SYMPTOMS
*CEREBROVASCULAR disease patient rehabilitation
*REGRESSION analysis
- Language
- ISSN
- 0090-5550
Purpose: Explore the relationship of level and stability of self-esteem with self-reported depressive symptoms during acute inpatient stroke rehabilitation. Research Method: A consecutive sample of 79 participants was administered measures of state self-esteem and mood twice a day for 4 consecutive days. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was administered at the end of the 4 days. Self-esteem level was calculated by averaging the total self-esteem scores across the assessments, and self-esteem stability was operationalized as the standard deviation of self-esteem total scores. Mood level and stability were calculated likewise. Results: Regression analysis indicated that self-esteem stability moderated self-esteem level in predicting GDS scores, with stable lower self-esteem level associated with the most reported depressive symptoms. Unstable higher self-esteem levels were associated with more depressive symptoms than stable higher self-esteem. This interaction was demonstrated after controlling for mood level and stability, suggesting the independence of self-esteem stability from mood characteristics. Conclusion: Self-esteem stability may be an important variable in identifying individuals at risk for emotional disturbance following stroke. Further exploration of self-esteem stability correlates in this setting is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]