Self esteem, depression and, anxiety levels in emotionally abused and non-abused adolescents

Xtll ABSTRACT Self Esteem, Depression and, Anxiety Levels in Emotionally Abused and Non-abused Adolescents; Diğdem Müge Siyez Emotional abuse is gaining recognition as one of the core concepts in childrens' and adolescents welfare. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of adolescent-parent relationships as differential mediators of the associations between emotional abuse and self esteem, depression and anxiety levels. The second goal of current study is to systematically examine the sociodemographic variables with regard to the factors that are related to emotional abuse, self-esteem, depression and, anxiety levels. At the same time determination of the variables of depression are another purpose of mis study. A total of 358 students, between ages 15 and 17, from three high schools in İzmir participated in this study. Students comleted Information Sheet,, Emotional Abuse Scale, Social Comparison Scale and Brief Symptom Inventory. Spearman Correlation Coefficents, t-test, analysis of variance and, hiererchical regression analysis were used to analyse data regarding the sample. Results can be summarized as follows: Emotional abuse is a significant risk factor for adolescents. Emotional abuse is associated with increased rates of depression and anxiety levels, decreased self esteem. The most frequent risk factors associated with emotional abuse, low self-esteem, depression and, anxiety levels were: low socioeconomic level, domestic violence and marital problems. A hiererchical regression analysis was used to determine the individual and combined contributions of depression. The most significant variable caused to depression was anxiety level. Psychotism and perceived emotional abuse from mother were the other significant variables respectively. Results indicate the importence of detecting emotional abuse among adolescents. Counseling programs can be of help in preventing emotional abuse, as well as treating the abused. KeyWords: Emotional Abuse, Self-Esteem, Depression, Anxiety.