Abstract:
This study investigated the influence of gender and self-esteem on depression among diabetic patents. One hundred and thirty (130) diabetic patients were used for the study. Seventy- seven (77) of the participants have low self-esteem while fifty –three (53) have high self-esteem. The sample consisted of 65 males and 65 females each selected from type II patients from the University of Nigeria Teaching hospital Itukku Ozalla Enugu. The age range of the participants was between 30-55 years with a mean age of 43 years. A self-rating depression scale Zung (1965) and Index of self-esteem Hudson (1982) were used for data collection. A 2x2 factorial design was adopted while two way ANOVA statistics was used for data analysis. Incidence of depression was found to be higher among female diabetic patients than their male counterparts F, (1,126)=11.8 P<.01 Diabetic Patents with high and low self-esteem were found to differ on depression F, (1, 126) = 48.9 P < .01 level of significance. Findings of the study were discussed in relation to literature reviewed and several recommendation were also made.
