Self‐esteem mediates the link between subjective family socioeconomic status and daily depressed mood during emerging adulthood: A daily diary study

Abstract Background Previous investigations have demonstrated the link between subjective socioeconomic status and depressed mood. However, the relationship and mechanisms of subjective socioeconomic status with daily depressed mood remain unclear in emerging adulthood. Methods This study investigated whether and how family subjective socioeconomic status is associated with depressed mood using a 14‐day daily diary design with multilevel modeling. A total of 243 participants (mean age: 19.46 years; 89.7% female) completed the socioeconomic status scale at baseline, followed by the daily self‐esteem scale and the daily depressed mood scale over 14 consecutive days. Results The multilevel regression analysis showed that socioeconomic status negatively predicted individuals' depressed mood (β = −0.24, 95% CI = [−0.31, −0.10], z = −2.85, p = .003). In addition, the 2–1‐1 multilevel mediation analysis indicated that self‐esteem mediated the association between family subjective socioeconomic status and depressed mood (indirect effect = −0.22, 95% CI = [−0.36, −0.11], p = .002). Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that interventions aimed at enhancing self‐esteem, such as group counseling activities, may have the potential to reduce depressed mood in emerging adults.