Depression, stressful life events, social support, and self-esteem in middle class African American women

Abstract

African American women, are at risk for development of depression because they are a racial minority and female, and often have multiple roles which affect their social supports and self-esteem. An exploratory study was conducted that examined relationships between depression, stressful life events, social support, and self-esteem in 100 middle class African American women aged 20 to 35 years. The conceptual framework for the study was derived from Beeber's (1987) model. Correlational analysis revealed a positive relationship between depression and stressful life events and a negative relationship between depression and social support. Regression analysis revealed that stressful life events and social support added significantly to the model whereas self-esteem did not.