The Role Of Self-esteem In The Relationship Between Psychological Stress And Anxiety And Depression In College Students With Left-behind Experience

Objective:The study selected college students who had left-behind experience in childhood as the research objects,and explored the relationship between the psychological stress level,self-esteem,anxiety and depression of college students with left-behind experience.College students or left-behind children with left-behind experience can seek ways to improve their mental health by cultivating and improving these protective factors.Methods:Ten colleges and universities were randomly selected in Anhui Province,the method of multi-stage cluster sampling was used,and the left-behind information of college students was collected by means of an online questionnaire and divided into a left-behind group and a non-left-behind group.Self-Rating Depression Scale（SDS）,Self-Rating Anxiety Scale（SAS）,Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20（SRQ-20）and Self-Esteem Scale（SES）to investigate the mental health status of the research subjects,using SPSS23.0 to input the effective information of the questionnaire And carry out reliability and validity test,one-way t test/variance analysis to explore differences between groups,Pearson correlation analysis/Spearman correlation analysis to explore the correlation between variables,and finally use Amos21.0 to build a model of the protection mechanism of left-behind college students’self-esteem level The path coefficients were calculated and the model fitting effect was tested using the bias-corrected nonparametric percent bootstrap method.Results:（1）A total of 10 240 online questionnaires were finally collected,of which 9978 were valid questionnaires,and the effective rate of the questionnaire was 97.44%.Including 4 780（47.91%）males and 5 198（52.09%）females,with an average age of（19.21±1.52）years old,a total of 4 667 college students with left-behind experience,accounting for 46.76%of all respondents.The Cronbach’sαof each scale used in the study was above 0.8,and the KMO was above the acceptable level.（2）The scores of total self-esteem and self-denial,self-acceptance and self-ability of college students with left-behind experience were higher than those of non-left-behind college students（t=10.29,9.79,7.81 and 7.22,P values<0.01）,left-behind college students were higher than non-left-behind college students in levels of anxiety and psychological stress（t=5.12,χ~2=26.8,both P<0.01）;no significant difference was found between them in terms of depression（t=0.40,P=0.69）.（3）There was no significant difference in the overall level of self-esteem and the sense of self-ability between male and female college students with left-behind experience（t=0.38,1.17,P>0.05）,but in the dimension of self-denial,the score of boys was higher than that of girls,and the sense of self-acceptance was higher in girls For boys（t=3.49,3.21,P<0.05）,male college students with left-behind experience had higher levels of anxiety（t=5.31,P<0.01）.From the perspective of psychological stress and depression,there was no significant difference between male and female college students with left-behind experience（χ~2=1.18,t=0.97,all P>0.05）;The left-behind college students who served as class cadres had higher levels of self-esteem,sub-dimensions,and depression than those who did not serve as class cadres（t=8.32,6.90,6.18,7.50,and 7.33,all P<0.05）.There was no significant difference in the level of psychological stress（t=1.73,P=0.08;χ~2=1.78,P=0.18）;the total score of self-esteem and the sense of self-competence and self-acceptance of different left-behind starting ages were not significantly different.There was no significant difference in the dimensions（F=2.10,0.80 and 1.26,all P>0.05）,but the pairwise comparison found that the self-denial scores of the left-behind start time less than 3years old group and the left-behind start time of the 7-9 year old group existed Significant difference（P=0.002）,there was no significant difference in anxiety and depression among college students with different left-behind starting time（F=1.81 and0.78,both P>0.05）,and the time period of left-behind starting time was different,The psychological stress state of the left-behind college students was also different（χ~2=10.57,P<0.05）.（4）Self-esteem and various dimension factors of self-esteem were positively correlated with the anxiety level of left-behind college students（r=0.192,0.201,0.158 and 0.113,all P<0.001）,and negatively correlated with individual depression（r=-0.263,-0.208,-0.241,-0.246,all P<0.001）;in addition,using Spearman rank correlation analysis method,it was found that the psychological stress level of left-behind college students was also positively correlated with anxiety and depression（r^s=0.288,0.038,both P<0.001）.（5）Self-esteem has a mediating role in the relationship between psychological stress and anxiety and depression,and psychological stress can explain 9%of the variation of depression emotional level with the mediating effect of self-esteem,and explain the effect of psychological stress on anxiety level with the mediating effect of self-esteem.Affecting 51%of the variance,the standardized path coefficients were all statistically significant（P<0.05）.Conclusion:（1）College students with left-behind experience have higher levels of self-esteem,and higher levels of psychological stress and anxiety than those without left-behind experience.（2）Among left-behind college students,boys are more prone to self-denial,girls have a higher sense of self-acceptance,and boys have higher levels of anxiety;left-behind college students serving as class cadres have average levels of self-esteem,its three sub-dimensions,and depression levels Higher than the left-behind college students who did not serve as class cadres;the left-behind starting time was less than 3 years old,and the self-denial score was higher than that of the left-behind starting time was7-9 years old.The earlier the start time of staying behind,the higher the level of psychological stress.（3）The higher the level of self-esteem,the more it can affect（promote）the anxiety and psychological stress levels of left-behind college students,but can relieve their depression;in addition,the higher the psychological stress level,the higher the anxiety and depression levels of left-behind college students.（4）The level of psychological stress not only has a direct impact on anxiety and depression,but also has a negative predictive effect on depression and a positive predictive effect on anxiety through the mediating effect of self-esteem.