Correlation between family processes and self-esteem in depressed patients

Depression is a common mood disorder that causes distortion of the patient''s self-esteem. The first and most important factor in the formation of self-esteem is an interaction with family members. As one of the main risk factors of depression is distress in family processes، that means family functions in various conditions، therefore the present study was aimed to investigate the correlation between family processes and self-esteem in depressed patients. 180 depressed patients were selected by propose sampling. A questionnaire completed by self-report was used for data collection. It included 3 parts: demographic، family process scale and Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Data was analyzed by version 17 SPSS software. Family processes score in majority of samples was mediocre (53/86). The samples maximum and minimum score was in religious belief (7/55) and decision making (4/18) dimensions respectively. The self-esteem score in majority of samples was mediocre. Also results show that a positive and significant correlation between all the family processes dimensions، expect religious belief dimension، and self-esteem (p<0/00). In general، majority of samples had a mediocre family processes and self-esteem، indicating a significant and positive correlation between family processes and self-esteem.