Date of Award
Summer 2011
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)
Department
Psychology
Program/Concentration
Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology
Committee Director
Neill Watson
Committee Member
Janice Zeman
Committee Member
Todd Thrash
Committee Member
Barbara Winstead
Committee Member
Joseph Galano
Abstract
Two competing sets of hypotheses about the relations of self-criticism and dependency to depressive symptomatology were tested. Blatt's theory (1974, 2004) states that self-criticism and dependency are separate and distinct personality traits that predispose individuals to depression. Hypotheses from Blatt's theory were that self-criticism and dependency each explain unique variance in depressive symptomatology beyond that explained by the other. In contrast, Greenberg and Watson (2006) theorize that dependency underlies self-criticism in predisposing individuals to depression. Hypotheses from Greenberg and Watson's theory were that self-criticism and dependency are both correlated with depressive symptomatology, that self-criticism is correlated with dependency, that self-criticism explains unique variance in depressive symptomatology beyond that explained by dependency, and that dependency becomes a nonsignificant predictor of depressive symptomatology when controlling for self-criticism. A sample of 154 female and 142 male undergraduates completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, which assesses self-criticism and dependency, and completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II 10 weeks later. Preliminary analyses indicated that the dependency construct should be measured with the Neediness subfactor of the DEQ Dependency measure and that there were no gender interactions in tests of the hypotheses. Results supported all of the hypotheses based on Greenberg and Watson's theory and did not support Blatt's hypothesis that dependency explains unique variance in depressive symptomatology beyond that explained by self-criticism. Limitations of the present study and its implications for future research are discussed.
Rights
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DOI
10.25776/v99y-bh49
ISBN
9781124625560
Recommended Citation
Canose, David B..
"Relations of Self-Criticism and Dependency to Depressive Symptomatology: Tests of Blatt's and Greenberg and Watson's Theories"
(2011). Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Dissertation, Psychology, Old Dominion University, DOI: 10.25776/v99y-bh49
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/psychology_etds/256
Comments
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculties of The College of William and Mary, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology through the Virginia Consortium Program in Clinical Psychology.