Study of Causal Factors of Anxiety and Depression Using Self-concept Among Indian College Students

This paper offers to create an additional concern for improving ways to determine the causal factors of anxiety and depression in terms of self-concept that could aid in targeted and focused interventions. For this matter, the present study examined relationships between self-concept, anxiety, and depression. With the help of the self-report questionnaires a total of 120 Indian college students were considered for the study among which 60 were male and 60 female. The correlation analysis has revealed that the domains of self-concept have a statistically significant negative correlation with the variables anxiety and depression. The dimension of personal self-concept has shown a significantly larger effect size than the rest. Further, the regression analysis has confirmed that the domains of personal and academic self-concepts together have accounted for 42.4% of the variance in predicting state anxiety. In contrast, the domain of personal self-concept alone has accounted for 32.2% of the variance in predicting trait anxiety. Also, the dimension of personal self-concept is seen as accountable for 21.5% of total variability in predicting the variable depression. These findings are then extended more to understand the concepts associated with the factors/variables self-concept, anxiety, and depression. Their role and effect on future interventions for their psychological well-being and further research prospects were briefly discussed.