Dependency, self-criticism and depressive symptoms in adolescence: the mediating role of psychological need frustration

Objective. Although previous research has shown that adolescents with high levels of self-criticism and dependency are more vulnerable to depression, less is known about the intervening processes that might explain why this is the case. This study aims to increase our understanding of the mechanisms behind personality-related vulnerability for depression in adolescence by examining the role of need frustration, a central concept in Self-Determination Theory. We hypothesized that self-criticism and dependency would relate to an increased risk for depression because it engenders frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This hypothesis was tested in two studies. Design. Study 1 was a 2-wave longitudinal study in which 313 adolescents (51,9% female; mean age= 14,5; SD= 0,65) completed a questionnaire assessing self-criticism, dependency, need satisfaction, need frustration and depressive symptoms. As study 1 only relied on self-report, we included parent-report in study 2. In this cross-sectional study 284 adolescents (58,5% female; mean age= 14,10; SD= 1,22) and their parents reported about the adolescents' depressive symptoms. The adolescents also completed a survey assessing self-criticism, dependency, need satisfaction and need frustration. Results. Both studies provided support for the hypothesized model. Study 1 showed that dependency and self-criticism predicted increases in need frustration which, in turn, predicted increases in depressive symptoms. Study 2 showed that need frustration explains the relationship between personality vulnerability and depressive symptoms as measured in self-report and in parent-report. In both studies, self-criticism is positively related to need frustration and negatively related to need satisfaction. As dependency is positively related to both need frustration and need satisfaction, this personality dimension seems to be a mixed blessing. Conclusions. These studies suggest that psychological need frustration may play an important role in the personality-related vulnerability for depression associated with self-criticism and dependency.

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