Self-criticism versus neuroticism in predicting depression and psychosocial impairment for 4 years in a clinical sample.

The present study extended previous findings demonstrating self-criticism, assessed by the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) (Weissman AN, Beck AT. Development and validation of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: a preliminary investigation. Paper presented at the 86th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1978), as a potentially important prospective predictor of depressive symptoms and psychosocial functional impairment over time. Using data from a prospective, 4-year study of a clinical sample, DAS self-criticism and neuroticism were associated with self-report depressive symptoms, interviewer-rated major depression, and global domains of psychosocial functional impairment 4 years later. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that self-criticism uniquely predicted depressive symptoms, major depression, and global psychosocial impairment 4 years later over and above the Time 1 assessments of these outcomes and neuroticism. In contrast, neuroticism was a unique predictor of self-report depressive symptoms only 4 years later. Path analyses were used to test a preliminary 3-wave mediational model and demonstrated that negative perceptions of social support at 3 years mediated the relation between self-criticism and depression/global psychosocial impairment for 4 years.