The buffering effects of self-concept clarity and trait mindfulness on the relationship between depressive symptoms and self-esteem

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that the number of depressive symptoms in university students has been rising in the past years. It is established that self-esteem is strongly related to the level of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, self-concept clarity and trait mindfulness have been shown to influence this relationship and buffer low self-esteem. This study aims to investigate whether the established findings of self-concept clarity and trait mindfulness remain significant when tested as moderators between self-esteem and depressive symptoms. The second aim was to see if having high self-concept clarity and high trait mindfulness buffers even more for low self-esteem in the context of depressive symptoms. This study was a cross-sectional study with 841 psychology students of the behavioural science department of a Dutch university aged 18 – 58 years (M = 21; SD = 2.7). All the constructs were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. The two moderators were added stepwise before they were combined, leading to three separate regression models. The results of the regression models supported the previous findings that self-concept clarity and trait mindfulness buffer low self-esteem. However, having both does not lower the depressive symptoms even more. Nevertheless, the study showed that self-concept clarity and trait mindfulness have unique effects on the relationship between self-esteem and depressive symptoms.