Relationship between self-esteem,social support and depression among freshmen of a vocational college

Objective To explore the relationship between self-esteem,social support and depression among freshmen of a vocational college,and to provide a theoretical basis for mental health education in the students.Methods Totally 272 vocational college freshmen in Changsha city,Hunan province were surveyed with Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale(SES)and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS) from November to December 2014.Results The detection rate of depression was 19.85%(16.91%,2.57%,and 0.37%for mild,moderate,and severe depression)among the freshmen.The average overall score was 44.59±8.80 and 30.83±3.93 for depression and self-esteem;the average scores were 9.21±1.95 for objective social support,20.52±3.89 for subjective social support,8.1±1.77 for social support utilization,and 37.83±5.76 for total social support among the freshmen.The depression score was significantly correlated negatively with the score of self-esteem(r=-0.521,P<0.01)and with the scores of objective social support,subjective social support,social support utilization,and total social support,with the correlation coefficients of -0.165,-0.230,-0.172,and -0.261,respectively(P<0.01 for all).Conclusion Depression is closely related to self-esteem and social support among the freshmen in vocational colleges.