DEPRESSIVE EXPERIENCE AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD

This study examined the associations between two factors of depressive experience (dependency and self-criticism) and satisfaction in adult romantic relationships. The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, alon g with measures of attachment and relationship satisfaction, were admi nistered to 107 men and 140 women attending local community colleges. Self-criticism was associated with global relationship distress and se xual dissatisfaction. In a combined regression equation, measures of s elf-criticism, attachment security, and attachment activation all cont ributed to predicting general relationship distress. Only scores on se lf-criticism predicted sexual dissatisfaction. The relationship dissat isfaction reported by those with high scores on self-criticism appears to be a relational aspect of the ''destructiveness of perfectionism'' described by Blatt.