Self-Esteem Deficits Among Psychiatric Patients

The objective of the present study was to investigate thedifference in the level of self-esteem among patients with psychiatric disorders andnormal controls. After a detailed literature review, it was hypothesized that therewould be a significant difference in the level of self-esteem among patients withpsychiatric disorders and normal controls. The sample of the present study consisted of260 participants, who were further divided into two groups: clinical group (n = 140) andnormal controls (n = 120). The age range of the participants in both the samples were 18to 25 years (with the mean age of 22.14 years for psychiatric patients and 21.18 yearsfor normal controls), and they belonged to middle socioeconomic status. The clinicalgroup consisted of diagnosed psychiatric patients according to Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) criteria andfurther divided into four subgroups, including patients of (a) schizophrenia (n = 40),(b) major depressive disorder (n = 40), (c) obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 40), and(d) opioid dependence disorder (n = 20). The semi-structured interview form of Instituteof Clinical Psychology, University of Karachi, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale wereused. Descriptive Statistics and one-way ANOVA were applied to analyze and interpret thedata in statistical terminology. Results indicate significant differences among patientswith psychiatric disorders and normal controls on the variable of self-esteem (F =30.513, df = 4, 255, p< .05). The finding has implications for clinical interventionsand also suggests avenues for future research