683786

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HPQ0010.1177/1359105316683786Journal of Health PsychologyBrunet et al.

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Journal of Health Psychology

Self-esteem moderates the

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DOI: 10.1177/1359105316683786
https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316683786
self-conscious emotions and journals.sagepub.com/home/hpq

depressive symptoms

Jennifer Brunet1, Eva Pila2,

Shauna Solomon-Krakus2,
Catherine M Sabiston2
and Jennifer O’Loughlin3

Abstract
The objectives of this study were to describe the cross-sectional associations between body-related self-
conscious emotions and depressive symptoms in young adults and examine self-esteem as a moderator
of these associations. Data from a population-based sample of 811 young adults were analyzed using
hierarchical multivariate linear regression analysis. Body-related shame (β = .26) and guilt (β = .25) were
positively related to frequency of depressive symptoms. Self-esteem was negatively related to frequency
of depressive symptoms (β = −.46). Self-esteem moderated the association between body-related guilt and
frequency of depressive symptoms. These findings suggest promoting self-esteem may help to reduce the
negative effects of body-related guilt on depressive symptoms.

Keywords
body guilt, body shame, depressive symptoms, moderation analysis, young adults

It is well established that the prevalence of sub-
clinical depression is highest during young
adulthood, with people in their 20s reporting the
highest levels of depressive symptoms (Sutin
et al., 2013). Depressive symptoms are highly
recurrent, carry significant personal and societal
consequences, and predict the development of
clinical depression (Kessler et al., 2003; Klein
and Allmann, 2014; Whiteford et al., 2013). As
such, it is important to identify factors associ-
ated with depressive symptoms in young adults
in order to identify opportunities to prevent and
manage depression. Despite advancements in
the knowledge of factors associated with depres-
sive symptoms, more research is needed to
identify risk and protective factors that can help
inform evidence-based interventions for manag-
ing depressive symptoms during the high-risk
years of young adulthood.
Experiences of guilt and shame have been
consistently associated with higher depressive
1University of Ottawa, Canada
2University of Toronto, Canada
3Université de Montréal, Canada
Corresponding author:
Jennifer Brunet, School of Human Kinetics, University of
Ottawa, 125 University Private, Montpetit Hall,
Room 339, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada.
Email: jennifer.brunet@uottawa.ca
2 Journal of Health Psychology 
symptoms (see Kim et al., 2010, for review).
The focus on these two self-conscious emotions
is centered on the beliefs that negative thoughts
and maladaptive beliefs related to the self create
a vulnerability to depression (Abramson, et al.,
1989; Beck, 1967; Gotlib and Hammen, 2008).
According to Beck (1967), thoughts focused on
the perceived loss in social status and failures,
beliefs of inadequacy and worthlessness, and
criticism and derogation of the self may result
in overly pessimistic views of the self and lead
to depressive symptoms. Building on this
notion, researchers have proposed that self-con-
scious emotions of shame and guilt, which can
result in feelings of powerlessness, helpless-
ness, and hopelessness in the case of shame or
result in feelings of tension, culpability, regret,
and remorse in the case of guilt (Tangney,
1995), might contribute to the development
and/or worsening of depressive symptoms
(O’Connor et al., 1999; Tangney et al., 1995).
Thus, self-conscious emotions should be con-
sidered in efforts to advance knowledge of fac-
tors that may be associated with depressive
symptoms in young adults.
Self-conscious emotions
According to Tracy and Robins (2004), people
experience self-conscious emotions of shame
and guilt “when they become aware that they
have lived up to, or failed to live up to, some
actual or ideal self-representation” (p. 105).
Although shame and guilt are closely related,
they can be distinguished by the target and pro-
cess of self-evaluation. Theoretical accounts of
shame suggest that this emotion ensues follow-
ing a negative evaluation of the global self in
which the person feels inferior, helpless, or vul-
nerable about himself or herself as a whole (e.g.
“I feel bad about who I am”). It is believed that
internal, stable, and uncontrollable attributions
for failure result in shame. Guilt ensues follow-
ing a negative evaluation of the person’s behav-
ior or action and entails remorse or regret (e.g.
“I feel bad about what I did”). Guilt is believed
to result from internal, unstable, and controlla-
ble attributions for failure. The difference
between self-evaluation and behavior evalua-
tion that distinguish shame and guilt has been
demonstrated consistently in general and in
specific domains of the self (Tangney, 1995).
The majority of researchers who have stud-
ied the association(s) between shame and/or
guilt and depressive symptoms have focused on
global experiences of shame and/or guilt (Averill
et al., 2002; Gilbert, 2000; Webb et al., 2007).
Based on 108 published studies reviewed by
Kim et al. (2010), experiences of global shame
and guilt contribute to depressive symptoms,
with an overall moderate association for shame
and small association for guilt. However,
researchers have argued for the importance of
considering domain-specific self-evaluation and
behavior evaluation (i.e. domain-specific shame
and guilt) because of the inherent differences in
people’s evaluations from one domain to another
(Marsh et al., 2006). In light of the prevailing
view that appraisals of the global self are driven
by evaluations of the physical self (Fox, 1997),
researchers have started to assess body-related
self-conscious emotions (e.g., Castonguay et al.,
2012; Pila et al., 2015; Sabiston et al., 2010).
They have argued that self-conscious emotions
specific to the physical self may be experienced
when people negatively appraise a stable and
uncontrollable aspect of their physique (body-
related shame) or in response to a negative
appraisal of a specific controllable behavior
associated with their physique (body-related
guilt). Thus, it is important to consider whether
young adults who report greater body-related
shame and guilt report more frequent depressive
symptoms. This association is expected based
on previous findings showing that several body
image constructs are associated with depressive
symptoms (Hankin and Abramson, 2001; Paxton
et al., 2006; Stice and Bearman, 2001).
Moreover, there is emerging evidence that body-
related shame and guilt are positively associated
with depressive symptoms in obese adults
(Conradt et al., 2007; Duarte et al., 2015) and
adolescents (Grabe et al., 2007). Establishin an
associations between body-related self-con-
scious emotions and depressive symptoms is
important as it would highlight that these
Brunet et al. 3
emotions poses a risk to young adults’ mental
health in addition to putting them at risk for eat-
ing disorders (Stice and Bearman, 2001), which
are prevalent in this population (Hudson et al.,
2007). Nevertheless, limited attention has been
paid to associations of body-related guilt and
shame with depressive symptoms in young
adults. The focus of this study is to extend the
current literature beyond global guilt and shame
and examine the associations between body-
related shame, guilt, and depressive symptoms
in a population-based sample of young adults. In
addition, this study seeks to examine whether
self-esteem affects the direction and/or strength
of the associations between body-related self-
conscious emotions and depressive symptoms.
Self-esteem as a possible
moderator
Although it is evident that experiences of shame
and guilt are associated with mild to severe
depression, there is a large range in the magni-
tude of associations (r = .20–.70; Kim et al.,
2010). Investigating factors that moderate the
associations may explain this heterogeneity and
determine for whom self-conscious emotions
have negative psychological outcomes; yet, few
researchers have investigated potential modera-
tors (e.g. Marta-Simões and Ferreira, 2015).
Identifying moderators may also provide insight
into which subgroups of young adults are more
likely to experience depressive symptoms as a
result of experiencing body-related shame and
guilt. Self-esteem is proposed as a potential
moderating factor in this study for several rea-
sons. First, several contemporary models of
depression and empirical reviews highlight the
role of low self-esteem in the development of
mild to severe depression (Hammen, 2005;
O’Brien et al., 2006; Orth et al., 2008, 2009;
Sowislo and Orth, 2013). Specifically, it has
been shown that having negative attitudes and
perceptions of one’s body is associated with low
self-esteem, which in turn is associated with
more depressive symptoms (Choi and Choi,
2016; Duchesne et al., 2016). Second, it has
been shown repeatedly that high self-esteem is
associated with an absence or lower frequency
of psychological symptoms such as depression
(Babiss and Gangwisch, 2009; Dumont and
Provost, 1999; Mann et al., 2004). Third, within
diathesis-stress models (Beck, 1967; Butler
et al., 1994; Metalsky et al., 1993), high self-
esteem constitutes a protective factor such that it
can help counteract the negative effect of stress-
ors on the risk of developing mild to severe
depression. Finally, high self-esteem has been
associated with less global shame and guilt
(Gruenwald et al., 2004) and less body-related
shame and guilt (Castonguay et al., 2014;
Conradt et al., 2007; Pila et al., 2015). As such,
it is possible that body-related shame and guilt
exhibit stronger associations with depressive
symptoms in young adults who have lower self-
esteem than in young adults who have higher
self-esteem. However, no study to date has
assessed whether self-esteem moderates the
associations between body-related self-con-
scious emotions and depressive symptoms.
This study
The first objective of this study was to describe
the associations between body-related self-con-
scious emotions of shame and guilt and depres-
sive symptoms in a population-based sample of
young adults. Based on previous studies focused
on global self-conscious emotions (see Kim
et al., 2010, for a review), it was expected that
higher levels of body-related shame and guilt
would be associated with more frequent depres-
sive symptoms but that the association between
body-related shame and depressive symptoms
would be stronger than the association between
body-related guilt and depressive symptoms.
Furthermore, although it was hypothesized that
body-related self-conscious emotions would be
associated with depressive symptoms, there are
likely individual differences in how young
adults respond to experiencing shame and guilt
depending on whether they have lower or higher
self-esteem. Therefore, the second objective
was to examine whether moderates the associa-
tions between body-related self-conscious emo-
tions and depressive symptoms. Drawing on
diathesis-stress models (Beck, 1967; Butler
et al., 1994; Metalsky et al., 1993), it was
4 Journal of Health Psychology 

Table 1.  Descriptive characteristics of participants in the analytical sample, 2011–2012 (n = 811).

Variables Means ± standard deviations

(SD) or frequencies
Age (years), mean ± SD 24.02 ± 0.68
Male, n (%) 363 (44.4)
Ethnicity (White), n (%) 645 (78.9)
Weight status, n (%)  
  Normal weight (BMI ⩽24.99 kg/m2) 533 (65.2)
  Overweight/obese (BMI ⩾25.00 kg/m2) 260 (31.8)
 Missing 25 (3.1)
Highest education level attained, n (%)  
  Attended or graduated high school 98 (12)
  Attended or graduated from CEGEP or community college 225 (27.5)
  Attended or graduated from university 402 (49.1)
  Other or missing 93 (11.4)
Household income (CAN$), n (%)  
 <30,000 249 (30.4)
 30,000–⩽49,999 166 (20.3)
 50,000–⩽99,999 170 (20.8)
  ⩾100,000 135 (16.5)
 Missing 98 (12.0)
Body-related shame, mean ± SD 1.72 ± 0.83
Body-related guilt, mean ± SD 2.10 ± 0.99
Self-esteem, mean ± SD 3.26 ± 0.50
Depressive symptoms, mean ± SD 1.85 ± 0.80

BMI: body mass index.

hypothesized that body-related shame and guilt
would not be significantly associated with
depressive symptoms in young adults reporting
higher self-esteem, or if significant, the magni-
tude of the associations would be small com-
pared to the associations in young adults
reporting lower self-esteem.
Methods
Participants and procedures
The study sample comprised young adults par-
ticipating in the Nicotine Dependence in Teens
(NDIT) study, a large prospective cohort study
designed to describe the natural course of nico-
tine dependence in relation to cigarette smoking.
The design and methods of the NDIT study are
published elsewhere (O’Loughlin et al., 2015).
For this study, 818 of the initial 1294 participants
who were recruited for the NDIT study in 1999–
2000 completed a follow-up questionnaire in
2011–2012. The present cross-sectional analyses
were performed using data collected from par-
ticipants in 2011–2012 (i.e. survey cycle 21) who
provided complete data or had <5 percent of
missing data on the exposure, moderator, and
outcome variables (n = 811). Those retained for
the current analyses were slightly older and more
had university-educated mothers compared to
those not retained. No other significant differ-
ences were observed between those who partici-
pated at follow-up and those who did not.
Descriptive statistics on key socio-demographic
variables are presented in Table 1. The NDIT
study was approved by the ethics review boards
at McGill University and the Centre de Recherche
du Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de
Montréal. Informed consent was obtained from
all participants.
Brunet et al. 5
Measures
The Weight and Body-Related Shame and Guilt
(WEB-SG) scale (Conradt et al., 2007) was
used at survey cycle 21 to assess the degree to
which participants experienced shame (six
items) and guilt (six items) in the past 6 months.
This assessment is meant to capture the disposi-
tional or trait-like nature of body-related shame
and guilt (Conradt et al., 2007). Responses were
recorded on a 4-point Likert scale (from
1 = never to 4 = always). A mean score was cal-
culated for each self-conscious emotion.
WEB-SG scores have demonstrated adequate
reliability and validity (Conradt et al., 2007;
Sabiston et al., 2010). Cronbach’s alpha coeffi-
cients for this study were .90 and .89 for shame
and guilt subscales, respectively.
The Major Depression Inventory (MDI;
Bech et al., 2001) was used to assess frequency
of depressive symptoms. The MDI assesses the
extent to which participants experienced 10
depressive symptoms in the past 2 weeks on a
6-point scale (from 0 = at no time to 6 = all the
time). Items 8 and 10 had two sub-items (a and
b), and only the highest of the two scores was
used. Participants’ responses were averaged.
The validity and reliability of MDI scores have
been established (Bech et al., 2001; Olsen et al.,
2003). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for this
study was .90.
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem (RSE) scale
(Rosenberg, 1965) was used to assess self-
esteem. It is a measure of global self-esteem that
consists of 10 statements. No time frame or ref-
erent period is used in this dispositional measure
of self-esteem. Responses were recorded on a
4-point Likert scale (from 1 = strongly disagree
to 4 = strongly agree). Negatively stated items
were reverse coded, and a mean score was cal-
culated. Researchers have shown that RSE items
are internally consistent and that the global score
has predictive validity (Brunet et al., 2010;
Diehl et al., 1998). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
for this study was .87.
A questionnaire was used to collect data on
participants’ socio-demographic characteristics
(age, sex, weight, height, ethnicity, educational
attainment, and annual household income
(<CAN$30,000–49,999; CAN$50,000–99,999;
and >CAN$100,000)). Body mass index (BMI)
was calculated as current self-reported weight
(kg) divided by the square of self-reported
height (m).
Data analysis
Prior to analysis, the data were checked for nor-
mality, outliers, and multicollinearity. Missing
data on the exposure, moderator, and outcome
variables were minimal (<5%) and estimated
using multiple imputation methods (Yuan, 2010).
Data on potential covariates were not estimated
as >5 percent were missing. Descriptive statistics
and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were com-
puted for multi-item measures. Bivariate correla-
tions between the main study variables were
examined, and the correlation coefficients
obtained for the body-related shame and depres-
sive symptoms association and for the body-
related guilt and depressive symptoms association
were compared using Fisher’s r-to-z transforma-
tion. Following procedures recommended for
testing moderation described by Aiken et al.
(2003), hierarchical multivariate linear regression
analysis was conducted to assess the associations
between body-related self-conscious emotions
and depressive symptoms (objective 1) and deter-
mine whether self-esteem moderated these asso-
ciations (objective 2). Interaction terms were
created for body-related shame and self-esteem
and for body-related guilt and self-esteem by
multiplying the mean-centered variables, respec-
tively. Entry was specified a priori where age,
sex, BMI, education attainment, and household
income were included in the first step; mean-cen-
tered body-related self-conscious emotions were
entered in the second step; mean-centered self-
esteem was entered in the third step; and the inter-
action terms were included in the final step. A
moderator effect was supported if the interaction
term was statistically significant at p < .05. The
nature of the significant interaction was explored
using simple slope analysis and a graphical repre-
sentation using the regression coefficients for
lower (>1 standard deviation (SD) below the
6 Journal of Health Psychology 
mean) and higher (>1 SD above the mean) self-
esteem (Aiken et al., 2003).
Results
Examination of the data revealed no univariate
or multivariate outliers. The distributional prop-
erties of the exposure, moderator, and outcome
variables suggested that they were all normally
distributed as skewness and kurtosis values
were below values that might reflect problems
with the distribution of the data (i.e. all values
were between −1.5 and 1.5). In addition, the
variance inflation factor values for each inde-
pendent variable were all <2.95, indicating that
there was little or no multicollinearity issues.
Descriptive statistics for the main variables are
presented in Table 1. On average, participants
reported low body-related shame and guilt, low
frequency of depressive symptoms, and high
self-esteem relative to the scale ranges.
A number of significant bivariate correlations
were observed. Specifically, body-related shame
and guilt were positively intercorrelated (r = .73).
Body-related shame (r = .42) and guilt (r = .38)
were positively associated with frequency of
depressive symptoms, and the magnitude of
these two associations was comparable based on
Fisher’s r-to-z transformation (p < .001). Self-
esteem (r = −.57) was negatively associated with
frequency of depressive symptoms. Finally,
body-related shame (r = −.44) and guilt (r = −.34)
were negatively correlated with self-esteem.
The results of the hierarchical multivariate lin-
ear regression analysis are presented in Table 2.
Based on the model controlling for age, sex, BMI,
education attainment, and household income in
Step 1, body-related shame and guilt were posi-
tively and significantly associated with frequency
of depressive symptoms in Step 2. Also, self-
esteem was inversely and significantly associated
with frequency of depressive symptoms in Step
3. The interaction between body-related guilt and
self-esteem was significant in Step 4; the interac-
tion between body-related shame and self-esteem
was not. The four steps accounted for 38 percent
of the variance in frequency of depressive symp-
toms. As shown in Figure 1, and based on the
simple slope analysis, the positive association
between body-related guilt and frequency of
depressive symptoms was significant among par-
ticipants who reported lower self-esteem (β = .33,
95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.39–5.14) but not
significant among those who reported higher self-
esteem (β = .11, 95% CI = −0.56–1.67).
Discussion
The objectives of this study were to extend the
limited literature linking body-related self-
conscious emotions of shame and guilt with
depressive symptoms in young adults and deter-
mine whether self-esteem moderates these
associations. As hypothesized, both body-
related self-conscious emotions were positively
and significantly associated with frequency of
depressive symptoms even after controlling for
potential confounders. The second hypothesis
was also supported, albeit only partially, as the
association between body-related guilt (but not
body-related shame) and frequency of depres-
sive symptoms was moderated by self-esteem.
Further interpretation of the moderating effect
of self-esteem indicated a stronger positive
association between body-related guilt and fre-
quency of depressive symptoms in participants
with lower self- esteem compared to partici-
pants with higher self-esteem. This is an inter-
esting discovery and offers a novel contribution
to the literature in that it may help to explain
variations in the magnitude of associations pre-
viously reported (Kim et al., 2010). It also pro-
vides a target for interventions seeking to
reduce the negative impact of body-related guilt
on depressive symptoms in young adults.
Although several researchers have reported
associations between self-conscious emotions
and depressive symptoms (see Kim et al., 2010,
for a review), these reports are based on global
measures of shame and guilt. This study is
among the few that have assessed body-related
self-conscious emotions (Castonguay et al.,
2012, 2014; Conradt et al., 2007; Pila et al.,
2015; Sabiston et al., 2010) and addresses calls
to examine the link between body-related self-
conscious emotions and health outcomes
Brunet et al. 7

Table 2.  Hierarchical multivariate regression analysis examining the associations between body-related
self-conscious emotions, self-esteem, and frequency of depressive symptoms controlling for age, sex, body
mass index, educational attainment, and household income.

Variables F R2 ΔR2 B SE β 95% CI

Lower Upper
bound bound
Step 1  4.80** .04  
 Age (years) .03 .05 .03 −.06 .13
 Sex (male = 0, female = 1) .20 .64 .13* .08 .33
 Body mass index .01 .01 .04 −.01 .02
 Educational status .002 .05 .002 −.09 .09
 Income −.10 .03 −.13* −.15 −.04
Step 2 24.27** .22 .18  
 Body-related shamea .27 .05 .28** .17 .34
 Body-related guilta .20 .04 .25** .11 .28
Step 3 45.78** .37 .16  
 Self-esteema −.74 .06 −.46** −.86 −.62
Step 4 38.74** .38 .01  
 Body-related shame × self-esteema −.001 .09 .00 −.18 .18
 Body-related guilt × self-esteema −.19 .06 −.13* −.34 −.04

B: unstandardized regression coefficients; SE: standard errors; β: standardized regression coefficients;

CI: confidence intervals.
Sample size is 622 because of missing data on covariates, and these data were not imputed as >5 percent were missing.
Removing covariates entered in Step 1 to retain full sample size yielded similar results.
aVariables are mean centered.

**p < .001;*p < .01.

6
Depressive symptoms (mean)

5
Low Self-
4 esteem
3
High Self-
2 esteem

0
Low Guilt High Guilt

Figure 1.  Significant two-way interaction involving body-related guilt and self-esteem on frequency of
depressive symptoms.

(Calogero and Pina, 2011; Marta-Simões and
Ferreira, 2015). Specifically, these findings
highlight that body-related self-conscious emo-
tions are related to depressive symptoms and
advance the current literature that is focused pri-
marily on global self-conscious emotions
(Averill et al., 2002; Gilbert, 2000; Webb, et al.,
2007). Furthermore, these associations add to
the scant body of the literature linking body-
related self-conscious emotions to depressive
symptoms (Castonguay et al., 2014) and to the
literature linking other body image constructs to
psychopathology (Altabe and Thompson, 1996;
Tiggemann, 1996). For example, researchers
8 Journal of Health Psychology 
have shown that negative body-related self-
evaluations are associated with depressive
symptoms (Hankin and Abramson, 2001; Paxton
et al., 2006; Stice and Bearman, 2001). Although
it is not possible to establish a causal effect of
body-related shame and guilt on depressive
symptoms based on this cross-sectional analy-
sis, these results underscore the importance of
considering young adults’ experiences of body-
related shame and guilt to prevent and treat
depressive symptoms. Based on existing inter-
ventions that have been effective in improving
body image (Campbell and Hausenblas, 2009;
Farrell et al., 2006; Jarry and Ip, 2005; Yager
et al., 2013), cognitive-behavioral therapy, cog-
nitive dissonance training, mindfulness-based
interventions, and/or physical activity interven-
tions could be evaluated to determine whether
they are effective in reducing body-related
shame and guilt and subsequently preventing or
reducing depressive symptoms.
Departing from the hypothesis and from
existing literature on global shame and guilt
(Kim et al., 2010), the magnitude of the associa-
tions between both body-related self-conscious
emotions and depressive symptoms was similar.
One reason could be that body-related self-eval-
uations are highly relevant in young adulthood
(Bucchianeri et al., 2013; Grossbard et al., 2008)
and thus have a negative impact on depressive
symptoms, regardless of whether they are in
relation to the self as a whole (body-related
shame) or in relation to one’s appearance-man-
agement behaviors (body-related guilt). Also,
the significant interaction between body-related
guilt and self-esteem supported the hypothesis
that having a more favorable impression of one-
self (higher self-esteem) may attenuate the posi-
tive associations between body-related guilt and
depressive symptoms. From a theoretical per-
spective, this finding is consistent with previous
theorizing that high self-esteem can help to
counteract the negative effect of stressors on the
risk for the development and/or worsening of
mild to severe depression (Beck, 1967; Butler
et al., 1994; Metalsky et al., 1993). As such, it
points to the need to consider self-esteem when
examining the association between body-related
guilt and depressive symptoms. From a practical
perspective, this finding suggests that young
adults with more favorable global self-evalua-
tions may be less affected by their perceived
failures to enact appearance-management
behaviors. This pattern implies that promoting
self-esteem may help to reduce the negative
effects of body-related guilt on depressive
symptoms in young adults.
Contrary to the hypothesis and diathesis-
stress models (Beck, 1967; Butler et al., 1994;
Metalsky et al., 1993), self-esteem did not sig-
nificantly moderate the association between
body-related shame and depressive symptoms. A
likely explanation for this finding may relate to
the nature of the self-evaluations of shame.
Because shame is conceptualized as a negative
evaluation of self as a whole (Tangney, 1995), it
is assumed to result from internal, stable, and
uncontrollable attributions for failure. Thus,
responses to body-related shame may be nega-
tive regardless of self-esteem because people do
not believe that they can change the self as a
whole. Owing to the positive association between
body-related shame and depressive symptoms
observed herein, researchers should seek to iden-
tify other factors that protect against depressive
symptoms. In recent years, researchers have
become interested in self-surveillance, social
self-esteem, and reliance on external validation
as potential moderating variables (Bessenoff and
Snow, 2006; Choma et al., 2010). This interest
appears to be driven, at least in part, by the notion
that these variables may reduce body-related
shame and may, therefore, provide targets for
interventions developed to limit body-related
shame experiences. Therefore, researchers are
encouraged to consider these and other potential
moderating variables and continue to distinguish
between body-related shame and guilt given the
observation of unique patterns of associations
with depressive symptoms.
This study has limitations that should be
addressed in future research. It is not possible to
establish temporal sequencing between body-
related self-conscious emotions, self-esteem,
and depressive symptoms due to the cross-sec-
tional analysis. To test temporal sequencing
Brunet et al. 9
appropriately, researchers should use longitudi-
nal or experimental study designs. Also, despite
having used measures with established score
reliability and validity, self-report data could be
biased by social desirability or social approval,
which could yield biased regression coefficients
(i.e. estimates may be over- or underestimated).
Finally, the relatively low proportion of non-
White young adults in this sample may limit the
generalizability of the current findings.
Conclusion
The findings from this study increase the under-
standing of the associations between body-
related self-conscious emotions, self-esteem,
and depressive symptoms in young adults. In
particular, whereas experiences of body-related
shame and guilt were positively associated with
frequency of depressive symptoms, the present
findings suggest divergent associations for
body-related guilt may exist based on young
adults’ levels of self-esteem. This study adds to
the literature focused on self-conscious emo-
tions and depressive symptoms by demonstrat-
ing that self-esteem may attenuate the positive
association between body-related guilt and fre-
quency of depressive symptoms among those
reporting higher self-esteem. These findings are
relevant from both theoretical and practical per-
spectives. Theoretically, they contribute to an
increased understanding of predisposing factors
for less severe forms of depression in young
adults. Additionally, they provide initial evi-
dence that self-esteem may moderate the asso-
ciations between certain self-conscious emotions
and depressive symptoms. Practically, they
point to the potential relevance of including
strategies to enhance self-esteem when develop-
ing and evaluating the efficacy or effectiveness
of interventions aimed at reducing body-related
self-conscious emotions to reduce depressive
symptoms.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of inter-
est with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following
financial support for the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article: This work was supported
by Canadian Cancer Society grant numbers 010271
and 017435 awarded to J.O.. This article was pre-
pared while J.B. was supported by a Canadian Cancer
Society Career Development Award in Prevention.
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