ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the relationship between individual's self-esteem structure and mental health. Methods: 136 middle school students were tested with Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale(SES), Implicit Association Test(IAT), Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist(ASLEC) and Mental Health Test-CR(MHT-CR). Results: Compared with implicit self-esteem, explicit self-esteem correlates moderately to mental health. Results of hierarchical multiple regression with metal health as the dependent variables showed that explicit self-esteem, negative life events, explicit self-esteem?implicit self-esteem interaction, implicit self-esteem?negative life events interaction, and explicit self-esteem?implicit self-esteem?negative life events interaction is significant. Conclusion: This research supports the view that implicit and explicit self-esteem are distinct mental structures. Individual's self-esteem structure affects the relationship between negative life events and mental health.