Examining the interplay of self-esteem, trait-emotional intelligence, and age with depression across adolescence

Introduction: While there has been much empirical work demonstrating the deleterious effects of low self-esteem on adolescent depression, very little of this has been conducted in low-to middle-income countries. Furthermore, one's trait-emotional intelligence (TEI) has rarely been examined in interaction with self-esteem to predict adolescent depression. To address these gaps, the current brief report examined the interacting effects of TEI on the associations of self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Age differences were also considered given developmental trends indicating significant variability in depression across adolescence. Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 334 Jamaican adolescents aged 10-18 years (M = 14.74, SD = 1.95, 51% boys) completed surveys measuring self-esteem, TEI and depressive symptoms. Results & conclusions: Older adolescents reported greater depressive symptoms and less self-esteem compared to younger adolescents, and correlations showed that less self-esteem and TEI associated with more depressive symptoms. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed a significant three-way interaction whereby the buffering effect of TEI on the association of self-esteem and depressive symptoms was different for younger vs older adolescents. The findings provide further support for the effects of self-esteem and TEI on depressive symptoms, and indicate the importance for future studies in the Caribbean to examine these associations over time given the significant age differences revealed.