Rose was 15 when her parents informed her that they would have to move for work. Rose coped well with the change until her first day at the new school. There she was full of anxiety and fear about how to make new friends. Unfortunately, very few friends appeared over the next three years, and Rose also began to gain a lot of weight. The result was very low self-esteem. When Rose went to college, she faced fears very similar to those she experienced during the transition to high school. Shortly after this transition, she was diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Rose's situation is not unique. While the details of the story may be different than other teens struggling with depression, many teens struggle with low self-esteem throughout high school only to learn later in life that they struggle with depression. Today, 5.5% of 18-year-olds are diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) (van Tuijl, de Jong, Sportel, de Hullu, & Nauta, 2014), but probably 20–40% of adolescents suffer from major depressive disorder and he simply does not have major depressive disorder. diagnosed (Hu & Ai, 2016). Specifically, depressive symptoms begin to increase from age fourteen to seventeen and are even greater for females (Rawana & Morgan, 2014). This depression is believed to be the result of low self-esteem, but depression is also believed to further reduce self-esteem (Steiger, Fend, & Allemand, 2015). Even though adolescents are not diagnosed with depression, most adolescents have quite low self-esteem, especially when compared to their self-esteem during childhood (van Tuijl et al., 2014). Although it appears that depression leads to low self-esteem, through analysis of the research, it becomes clear that the opposite is true as low self-esteem leads to depression especially in adolescence. This is particularly evident in longitudinal studies that show that adolescents with low self-esteem develop depression over time, especially when they have negative relationships with parents and poor attachment with peers. Adolescent Depression Adolescence is a time of many changes in all aspects. of an individual's life. Not only are there drastic changes, but these changes are happening at different rates. For example, most adolescents reach physical maturity during this period of life, but all lack psychological maturity until their mid-twenties (Hu & Ai, 2016). Another change is the immense socialization with peers that adolescents begin to participate in (Steiger et al, 2015). These changes may be the reason we see such a spike in depressive symptoms during adolescence (Hu & Ai, 2016). However, in some adolescents depression may go undiagnosed because the symptoms are simply dismissed as a “phase.” Ignoring depressive symptoms in adolescents because one assumes that the symptoms will pass is extremely dangerous because depression poses a serious detriment to an individual's well-being. A depressed person normally develops helplessness in social, achievement, and physical contexts (Steiger et al., 2015). Depressed patients are also believed to have a shorter life expectancy and an overall less physical lifestyle (Bruce, Seeman, Merrill, & Blazer, 1994). There is also significant evidence to suggest that when depression appears in young adolescents, their normal development is seriously affected, causing them to lead livesvery different than those who do not suffer from psychopathology (Nolen-Hoeksema, Girgus and Seligman, 1992). Considering all the negative side effects of depression, it becomes clear that depression should be taken as early as possible to buffer some of these consequences. Once adolescent depression has been identified, the next step is to treat it. Adolescent depression is difficult to treat and understand because it is etiologically and neurologically different from that of adult depression. Some even argue that it should not be considered the same disorder. In addition to this, self-esteem and understanding of the construct may also differ between adolescents and adults (van Tuijl et al., 2014). However, since most available treatments for depression are intended for adults, the same treatment is often applied to adolescents. Over time, differences in reactions to this same treatment have illuminated researchers about some of the differences between adolescent and adult depression. Specifically, it has been shown that depressed adolescents are more likely to be pessimistic, have poorer social skills, and do worse in school. These findings are more significant for depressed adolescents than for depressed adults. One of the reasons why these are believed to change is due to the natural development that occurs from adolescence to adulthood (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1992). As more of these differences are identified, a more effective treatment for adolescent depression may be developed. Self-Esteem Self-esteem is largely involved in a person's life. A person's self-esteem affects their mental health, cognition, motivation, emotional behaviors, social behaviors, and personality. It appears, however, that self-esteem may be more important in depressed people. If self-esteem is high, people are able to easily adapt to different situations, avoid depressive symptoms, and lead healthier lifestyles (Hu & Ai, 2016; Krug, Wittchen, Lieb, Beesdo-Baum, & Knappe, 2016) . If self-esteem is low, research has shown, individuals are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior and suffer from poverty. Furthermore, people with low self-esteem focus more on their failures rather than successes and are extremely sensitive to rejection, and this becomes even worse if the teenager feels rejection from their parents. If someone develops low self-esteem in their teenage years, and consequently these negative associations with low self-esteem, it is more difficult for them to increase their self-esteem as they get older (Steiger et al., 2015). This idea leads to the thought process that low self-esteem leads to depression and not vice versa. Self-esteem has many definitions and therefore can sometimes be difficult to study and understand. In adolescence, it most commonly boils down to physical attractiveness, academic competence, self-acceptance, and self-respect (Krug et al., 2016; Steiger, Allemand, Robins, & Fend, 2014). There are two types of self-esteem: implicit and explicit. Implicit self-esteem is the automatic self-evaluation experienced in a given situation. Explicit self-esteem is adopted through motivation and is more stable than implicit self-esteem, especially during the adolescent years. People with implicit self-esteem have a harder time adapting to negative situations, so those suffering from depression are more likely to have implicit self-esteem. However, those with low explicit self-esteem are believed to also develop high depressive symptomatology. Specifically, low implicit self-esteem is believed to immediately influence depression, whereasexplicit low self-esteem affects it slowly over long periods of time (van Tuijl et al., 2014). Therefore, both types of low self-esteem are linked to symptoms of depression, they simply manifest along different timelines. The relationship between these types of self-esteem leads to different labels for self-esteem. Discrepant self-esteem occurs when implicit and explicit self-esteem are inversely related. Fragile self-esteem is specifically high explicit self-esteem with low implicit self-esteem and is seen within narcissistic behaviors. Damaged self-esteem is high implicit self-esteem with low explicit self-esteem and is observed within depressive behaviors (van Tuijl et al., 2014). Therefore, understanding these different types of self-esteem can help doctors identify what type of self-esteem a patient has and therefore see whether he or she is likely to suffer from depression or not. There are two theories about the relationship between self-esteem and depression. One is the vulnerability model which suggests that low self-esteem leads to depression. The other is the scar hypothesis which suggests that depression leads to low self-esteem through all the “scars” that depressive episodes leave on the individual. These scars typically have to do with social relationships, as depressed individuals put a strain on the people they have any type of relationship with. These scars may also be the result of an inability to think positively about themselves because they have thought negatively for so long (Steiger et al., 2015). Most research supports the vulnerability model, however the two are most often seen working together. It is also suggested that the scar hypothesis can only really be seen in adults and not adolescents. The scar hypothesis is also found more often in individuals with an unusually high number of episodes of major depressive disorder (van Tuijl et al., 2014). Distinguishing between these two theories can help researchers better understand their patients, especially if these patients are adolescents suffering from depression. Self-esteem is related to depression, but has also been observed to change over time. Therefore, it can be assumed that depression also changes over time. For example, when individuals are observed to enter adolescence with low self-esteem, that self-esteem is observed to decline over time and those individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with depression later in life (Steiger et al., 2014). In adolescents who have already been diagnosed with depression, it is observed that their depression turns into severe depression and suicidal behaviors appear when they become adults (van Tuijl et al., 2014). This supports the vulnerability hypothesis that depression worsens as self-esteem worsens. Parents One aspect of adolescents' lives that can impact their depression and self-esteem is their relationship with their parents. To adapt to all the changes happening right now, teens need a strong support system at home. Adolescents are quite aware of the changes they are going through and therefore assume that everyone else is completely aware of them too (Hu & Ai, 2016). This makes self-esteem an important part of teenagers' lives. Parents need to support the teenager's self-esteem, since everything else around them tends to lower his self-esteem. The way they can increase their children's self-esteem is by being loving and understanding, or in other words, being emotionally supportive (Hu & Ai, 2016). When parents treat their children with warmth and understanding, adolescents are better able to learn howdealing with difficult situations, which then serves as a barrier to low self-esteem (Steiger et al. 2015). In most depressed adolescents, research has been able to find a lack of emotional support from parents. Many factors are involved in depression, such as personality, heredity and negative life events. However, the most significant sign of depression, especially in adolescents, are dysfunctional attitudes such as being a perfectionist or expecting constant praise from those around them. The job of parents is to catch these dysfunctional attitudes before they turn into depression and help educate their children on how to think healthily (Hu & Ai, 2016). Although parents have the ability to help their children who suffer from depressive symptoms, a problem arises where most depressed adolescents have at least one parent who also suffers from the disorder, most likely the mother (Krug et al., 2016). This could be due to genetic factors of depression, but adolescents also learn to respond to situations in the same way that their parents do, so if parents respond in a way that is due to their depression, it is very likely that adolescents will respond similarly, which will lead them over time to develop depressive symptoms and eventually MDD (Steiger et al., 2015). This is specifically true with the construct of self-criticism. If a parent is very likely to be self-critical of themselves, they are also more likely to be extremely critical of others. If the parent is constantly critical of the child, the child will begin to become self-critical, which will then lower self-esteem and increase depressive symptoms. Another aspect of this is that depressed parents are more likely to be insecure simply interacting with their children, therefore causing tension in the parent-adolescent relationship (Steiger et al., 2015). Depressed parents are more likely to be self-focused and therefore less willing to give warmth and understanding to their children, who need that relationship with their parents to have greater self-esteem. Peers In addition to parents, another A significant factor in adolescents' self-esteem, and therefore their depressive symptoms, is their popularity among their peers. This is especially true in male adolescents (Steiger et al, 2015). Specifically, the construct of school connectedness, or how accepted a student feels at school, has been linked to depression and low self-esteem in adolescents. It has even been suggested that school connectedness is a specific form of self-esteem in high school students. High self-esteem is actually the biggest predictor of high school connectedness, along with gender, socioeconomic status, and academic achievement. Bonding with school also seems to be strongly influenced by the degree of safety a teenager feels at home. If they are very attached to their parents, they will also experience bonding with high school and vice versa. Peers may also have a more important influence on school bonds because peers are actually at school when parents are not present (Millings, Buck, Montgomery, Spears, & Stallard, 2012). Research on this topic has shown that the more connected a student is to school, the less likely they are to experience low self-esteem, which then leads to a decrease in depressive symptoms for the adolescent. While the research on this topic is compelling, it still needs more evidence for the construct to be truly understood regarding the relationship between school connectedness and adolescent depression(Millings et al., 2012). Once better understood, however, this will give researchers another variable to examine when trying to find adolescents suffering from early-stage depression. An important part of school connectedness is due to how attached teenagers feel to their peers. While peer relationships are always important in a person's life, during adolescence these relationships appear to become more important as they are a more integral part of the adolescent's life and the interaction between the adolescent and his or her peers becomes more complex (Millings et al., 2012). As adolescents become more attached to the peers around them, they may form a secure or insecure attachment. An insecure attachment leads to avoidant and dependent relationships, in which the individual is constantly worried that the friend will avoid him and therefore the individual avoids his friends out of fear, and ultimately these relationships do not lead to lasting attachment (Millings et al., 2012). When an attachment fails, it can lower an adolescent's self-esteem and therefore make him or her more predisposed to depressive symptoms. On the other hand, secure attachments increase trust, provide support, and ultimately lead to a long-lasting, fulfilling relationship. Secure attachments also appear to arise naturally, while insecure attachments appear more forced (Millings et al., 2012). Overall, high attachment with peers also tends to show high self-esteem, and vice versa. Limitations Although the research conducted on adolescent depression is very well done and informative on this topic, unfortunately there are very few researchers who are looking into this issue. This partly comes from the fact that both self-esteem and depression are huge constructs and can therefore be studied and measured in millions of different ways. This leads to variety in research rather than multiple research studies focused on a specific topic. Another problem that arises with this topic is that most studies on self-esteem are conducted with self-report measures since they have not yet found a way to physiologically measure self-esteem as they can with neurotransmitters in depression (van Tuijl et al ., 2014 ). Self-report measures are often biased, as the participant may not be totally honest in their responses to appear a certain way. Additionally, people's feelings can change from day to day, making self-report responses inconsistent over time, which also skews the data. This is best avoided when self-report measures have been shown to have high reliability and validity through psychometrics (Millings et al., 2012). Most studies on this topic are also not longitudinal, thus making it very difficult to be sure whether the vulnerability or scar hypothesis will better explain depression in adolescents in relation to self-esteem (Millings et al., 2012). Overall, while the available research is very helpful in understanding this issue, much more needs to be done to overcome these limitations. Solution From the above research it becomes clear that self-esteem in adolescence is very important with regards to depression. It is critical that positive self-esteem is encouraged in adolescents at this critical age (Rawana & Morgan, 2014). If we can increase self-esteem in our adolescents, we will be able to lower rates of depression in adults later in life (Steiger et al., 2014). Therefore, we should focus more on increasing self-esteem in interventions rather than reducing depressive symptoms (Steiger et al, 2015). Self-esteem is all the more sculpted.