Anxiety and Depression in Emerging Adults: Exploring Identity Centrality, Disability Self-Identification, and Self-Concept

Abstract

ABSTRACT Both identity and mental health disorders are independently well studied areas of research, yet little research has examined the ways in which mental health is incorporated (or not) into a person’s identity and whether such disorders are considered by individuals to be disabilities. To address this gap, college students with clinical anxiety and/or depression disorders (N = 126) were asked to complete an online survey regarding demographic characteristics, disorder symptomatology, self-concept, and identity. Descriptive results revealed that most students viewed anxiety and depression as being both central to their identities and as disabilities. Regression analyses revealed that being older and having more severe depression symptoms were associated with depression identity centrality, while identifying as bisexual was correlated with anxiety identity centrality. Increased severity of both anxiety and depression were related to identifying the disorder as a disability, and older students also were more likely to identify anxiety as a disability. Greater disability self-identification among those with depression was associated with higher self-esteem, suggesting that identifying depression as a disability might be beneficial to college students.