Psychological Distress among College Students in Terms of Self-esteem

Description

Shalini¹ and Arun Kumar Singh² (Department of Psychology, Patliputra University, Patna, Bihar¹ and Department of Psychology, Patliputra University, Patna Campus A.N. College, Patna, Bihar²)

Psychological distress is a state of mental suffering brought on by demands and pressures that are difficult to handle in day-to-day living. Self-esteem refers to a person’s overall opinion of their own value and “how much a person likes, accepts, and respects oneself generally as a person. The objectives of the study were: 1. To find out the relationship between psychological distress and self-esteem along with its dimensions among college students. 2. To find out the relationship between psychological distress and self-esteem along with its dimensions score in male and female college students. This study investigated the correlation between psychological distress and self-esteem using a correlational research design. The total sample (N= 200) of college students (100 male & 100 female) between the 18 to 25 year age range studying in graduation and post-graduation were collected. The purposive sampling method was employed in this study to choose participants from different colleges in Patna. The P.G.I. Health Questionnaire N-1 (PGIHQN-1) by Verma, Wig, and Prasad (1985) and Self-esteem Scale by Dhar and Dhar (2009) were used for measuring the relationship between psychological distress and self-esteem among college students. The significant negative relationship between psychological distress and self-esteem was determined. Male students are highly negatively correlated in comparison to female students in terms of psychological distress and self-esteem. Psychological distress influences self-esteem.