Phoi, Onkemetse (2007) Stress, Self-esteem and Loneliness in Rural Adolescents. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The aim of the study is to investigate the phenomenological relationship among stress, self-esteem and loneliness in rural adolescents. The mental health status of rural adolescents has been found to generally be poorer than that of urban adolescents, leading researchers to identify a need to examine rural adolescents’ health in greater depth. Two-hundred and thirty-seven adolescents, ranging from 12– 18 years of age, were involved in this study. Participants were drawn from a number of schools across South- West Queensland. Three measures that were used in the study include Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale for measuring stress. The Hare Area Specific Self-esteem Scale measured self-esteem and the Loneliness and Isolation Assessment scale measured loneliness. The results showed significant relationships between all the variables in the anticipated directions, stress correlated negatively with self-esteem, positively with loneliness and self-esteem correlated negatively with loneliness.
Results from a standard multiple regression suggested that self-esteem and loneliness explained 22.4% of the variance in stress. Of the two variables, loneliness made a unique contribution (beta = .29), although self-esteem also made a statistically significant contribution (beta= .26). Finally self-esteem was found to significantly mediate the relationship between stress and loneliness such that the relationship between loneliness and stress changes significantly when self-esteem is entered in the equation.
A buffering role of self-esteem served as a framework for interpreting the findings of the study such that high self-esteem operates as a kind of resource that enables individuals to suffer less or recover more rapidly from stressful events. The theory further states that high self-esteem appears to operate as a stock of positive feelings that can be valuable resources under some stressful or loneliness conditions. The findings of this study can be used to improve a number of services for young people in rural communities and implications for future research were also discussed.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Paul Bramston |
| Qualification: | Masters of Psychology (Health Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Nov 2025 23:23 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2025 23:23 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52665 |
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