Self-Criticism, Dependency, and Stress Reactivity: An Experience Sampling Approach to Testing Blatt and Zuroff’s (1992) Theory of Personality Predispositions to Depression in High-Risk Youth

S. J. Blatt and D. C. Zuroff’s 1992 theory of personality predispositions to depression posits that individuals who possess high levels of self-criticism and/or dependency are vulnerable to developing depression following negative events. The current study used experience sampling methodology to tes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality & social psychology bulletin 2009-11, Vol.35 (11), p.1440-1451
Main Authors: Adams, Philippe, Abela, John R. Z., Auerbach, Randy, Skitch, Steven
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Arousal
At risk youth
Child
Child of Impaired Parents
Children
Criticism
Dependency
Dependency (Psychology)
Depression
Depression - psychology
Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental depression
Negative events
Personality
Personality Development
Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data
Psychological Theory
Psychometrics
Risk Factors
Self Concept
Selfcriticism
Stress
Stress, Psychological - complications
Stress, Psychological - parasitology
Studies
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Summary:S. J. Blatt and D. C. Zuroff’s 1992 theory of personality predispositions to depression posits that individuals who possess high levels of self-criticism and/or dependency are vulnerable to developing depression following negative events. The current study used experience sampling methodology to test this theory in a sample of 49 children ages 7 to 14. Children completed measures of dependency, self-criticism, and depressive symptoms. Subsequently, children were given a handheld computer that signaled them to complete measures of depressive symptoms and negative events at randomly selected times over 2 months. Results of hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicated that higher levels of both self-criticism and dependency were associated with greater elevations in depressive symptoms following negative events. Furthermore, each personality predisposition remained a significant predictor of such elevations after controlling for the interaction between the other personality predisposition and negative events. The results suggest that dependency and self-criticism represent distinct vulnerability factors to depression in youth.
ISSN:0146-1672
1552-7433
DOI:10.1177/0146167209343811