Questionable prospective effects of self-esteem on anxiety and academic self-efficacy: A simulated reanalysis and comment on Cao and Liu (2024)

Based on findings from analyses with cross-lagged panel models, Cau and Liu (2024) concluded that self-esteem can protect against anxiety and promote academic self-efficacy. Here, we simulated data to resemble the data used by Cau and Liu. We used triangulation and fitted complementary models to the simulated data and found contradicting decreasing and increasing effects of initial self-esteem on subsequent change in anxiety and academic self-efficacy. These divergent findings suggest that it is premature to assume a protective effect of self-esteem on anxiety and an enhancing effect on academic self-efficacy and the conclusions by Cau and Liu in this regard can be challenged. It is important for researchers to be aware that correlations, including adjusted cross-lagged effects, do not prove causality in order not to overinterpret findings, something that appears to have happened to Cau and Liu. We recommend researchers to triangulate by fitting complementary models to their data in order to evaluate if observed effects may be due to true causal effects or if they appear to be spurious.