Negative Self-Concept: Specificity to Depressive Symptoms and Relation to Positive and Negative Affectivity

• Published in: Journal of research in personality 1996-03, Vol.30 (1), p.120-127
• Main Authors: Tarlow, Elisha M., Haaga, David A.F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0092-6566; 1095-7251
• DOI: 10.1006/jrpe.1996.0008

This study extends in several ways earlier research (Beck, Steer, Epstein, & Brown, 1990) showing that a generalized negative view of the self is a distinguishing feature of depression. First, we used a nonclinical sample (N= 124), a stringent test of specificity in view of the high overlap of depressive and anxiety symptoms in such samples. Second, we correlated self-concept with a depressive symptom measure from which overlapping content had been removed. Third, we related self-concept to positive and negative affectivity (PA, NA). Specificity to depression suggests that low self-concept should be associated with low PA, whereas its inclusion in the proposed criteria for mixed anxiety–depression (Zinbarget al.,1994) implied that low self-esteem should be linked especially to high NA. Results indicate that self-esteem was (a) inversely correlated with depressive symptoms, (b) specific to depressive symptoms, and (c) correlated more highly with PA than with NA.