**Original citation.** Stinson, D.A., Logel, C., Zanna, M.P., Holmes, J.G., Cameron, J.J., Wood, J.V., & Spencer, S.J. (2008). The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self-and social-bonds model of health. *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94*(3), 412-428.
**Target of replication.** We seek to replicate the original authors' finding that interpersonal stress mediates the relationship between self esteem and later health problems, CI = -.63 to -.01, p <.01.
**A priori replication criteria.** In the sample frame for the replication, we plan to recruit first-year students living on campuses at primarily English-speaking colleges in Canada, the US, or abroad. These students will be recruited in classes in upstate NY, or online. The identity and region of the college will be recorded, but not used as a selection criterion. It is highly probable that the reported gender and ethnic balances in the original will not be exactly equal across all first year college students, so the replication provides a modest test of external validity.
As in the original analysis, we first planned to test the fit of Stinson et al.’s proposed model of how self-esteem and stress predict health problems. We planned to specify the same structural equation model (SEM) modeled with error terms, handling of missing data using full information maximum likelihood estimation, and test of model fit as per the original paper. More specifically, we will use a comparative fit index (CFI) (with a cutoff of greater than 0.90) and a root-mean-square error of the approximation (RMSEA) (with a cutoff of less than 0.08).
Most importantly, the key effect was the how interpersonal stress during Weeks 2-4—a measure of social bond quality—mediated the relationship between self-esteem at Week 0 and health problems during Weeks 2-4.
Data collection is currently underway.
