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Effects of self-esteem and stress on self-assessed health: a Swiss study from adolescence to early adulthood

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Abstract

Purpose

A large literature shows important effects of self-esteem and stress on mental and physical health in young adulthood. Negative life events are one type of stressor associated with poor health, but it is less clear whether more neutral stressors are also associated with poor health. This study contributes to the existing literature by investigating the association between different types of stressful life events, self-esteem, and health during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood in Switzerland.

Methods

We draw on the “Transitions from Education to Employment” (TREE) panel study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey of a cohort of Swiss young adults, using logistic regression analysis. The study includes eight waves over a 10-year period, from 2001, average age 16, to 2010, average age 26. Our dependent variable is a dichotomized health self-assessment, and key independent variables include self-esteem and three measures of cumulative significant life events (SLEs): total cumulative SLEs, cumulative negative SLEs, and cumulative neutral SLEs.

Results

Self-esteem had a significant positive impact on health, whereas cumulative SLEs had a significant negative impact. Negative SLEs had a larger negative impact than total SLEs, and neutral SLEs had a smaller impact. Considered individually, negative SLEs were more likely to have a significant negative impact on health.

Conclusions

In addition to their known influence on mental health, stress and self-esteem are important factors influencing individuals’ general health, even in adolescence and young adulthood. While all types of stressors have a negative impact on health, the negative stressors seem to have more prominent effects than neutral stressors.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following individuals for their contributions to this article: The TREE (Transition from Education to Employment) project team especially Dr. Sandra Hupka-Brunner and Thomas Meyer, as well as Prof. Dr. Thomas Abel for comments and suggestions. Constanze Pfeiffer was funded by a Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The SNSF was not involved in the research for and preparation of this article. We would also like to thank the Editorial Offices at Social Science and Medicine and Quality Life Research and four anonymous reviewers for very helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. We presented an earlier version of the research reported in this article in Lucerne, Switzerland on January 29, 2015 at Promotion Santé Suisse’s 16th annual conference: “16e Conférence nationale sur la promotion de la santé: Promouvoir notre santé tout au long de la vie.” We confirm that all people who contributed significantly to this work are listed here.

Funding

Constanze Pfeiffer was funded by a Marie Heim-Vögtlin (MHV) fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) (Grant Number PMPDP1-173902).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Sociology, University of Basel, Petersgraben 27, 4051, Basel, Switzerland

    Kristen Jafflin & Manfred Max Bergman

  2. Department Epidemiology & Publich Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Constanze Pfeiffer

  3. University of Basel, Peterplatz 1, 4003, Basel, Switzerland

    Constanze Pfeiffer

Authors
  1. Kristen Jafflin
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Correspondence to Kristen Jafflin.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

As a social science survey with no medical component, this study is not subject to institutional review in Switzerland. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Jafflin, K., Pfeiffer, C. & Bergman, M.M. Effects of self-esteem and stress on self-assessed health: a Swiss study from adolescence to early adulthood. Qual Life Res 28, 915–924 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-018-2059-1

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