Giovanna Manna

The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Depression and Anxiety: Comparing Vulnerability and Scar Model in the Italian Context

Abstract Background : The relationship between low self-esteem and depression and anxiety disorders has solicited a growing body of empirical research. The most important explanation models are two: the vulnerability model states that low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and the scar model states that low self-esteem is an outcome, not a cause, of depression and anxiety. Method: In the present research we tested the two different models using a sample of Italian preadolescent, aged 11 to 14 years, recruited from an Italian secondary school. To test the models, the path analysis technique was used: one in which self-esteem predicted anxiety and depression (Model 1), and one in which anxiety and depression predicted self-esteem (Model 2). Gender and age were included in the models as covariate. Conclusions: our findings suggest that the both models had the same good fit, although the effects of self-esteem on depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly higher than the effects of anxiety and depression on self-esteem. In both models gender was positively associated with anxiety and self-esteem: girls tend to report higher levels of anxiety than boys. In the scar model age was positively related with depression; older preadolescents tend to report higher levels of depression than younger preadolescents. Keywords : self-esteem, anxiety, depression, early adolescence

Il ruolo dello stile di attaccamento materno sull'autostima in età adolescenziale

Lo studio intende verificare l’incidenza dello stile relazionale materno sulla stima di se degli adolescenti. Alla ricerca hanno partecipato 285 coppie madre-figlio. Agli adolescenti (122 ragazzi,163 ragazze), di eta compresa tra i 13 e i 19 anni (eta media = 16.23 anni, ds = 1.64), e stata somministrata la versione ridotta del Test Multidimensionale dell’Autostima (Manna, Mirisola e Boca, 2005); alle madri e stata somministrata la versione italiana dell’Attachment Style Questionnaire (Fossati, Feeney, Donati, Donini, Novella, Bagnato, Acquarini e Maffei, 2003). I risultati, ottenuti attraverso l’analisi della regressione multipla, mostrano che uno stile materno sicuro influenza positivamente lo stile relazionale degli adolescenti; al contrario, uno stile materno insicuro incide negativamente sull’immagine che l’adolescente possiede di se stesso e della propria vita.

Childhood Maltreatment, Pathological Personality Dimensions, and Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Several studies have demonstrated that child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and neglect) may be a significant factor in the development of pathological personality traits that increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Currently, the challenge is to understand how different forms of early negative experiences render an individual prone to develop specific personality traits and, in turn, be more vulnerable to suicide risk. To understand the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality dimensions in suicide risk, our study aims to explore the role of self-criticism and dependency, two different pathological personality traits, as potential mediators of the link between different types of childhood maltreatment and suicide risk in young adults. For this purpose, 306 students from three Italian public universities were recruited. We used the Italian version of the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire (CECA.Q) to assess experiences of lack of care by parents (i.e., antipathy and neglect) as well as psychological and physical abuse before the age of 17 years. The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) was used to assess the personality dimensions of self-criticism and dependency, and the Suicide History Self-Rating Screening Scale was administered to assess suicide risk. Results revealed that lack of care and psychological abuse were significantly associated with suicide risk and this association was partially mediated by the maladaptive personality dimension of self-criticism. These findings suggest that the combined effect of specific forms of dysfunctional parental behavior during childhood and the development of rigid and dysfunctional negative personality traits may increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior during adulthood.