Does self-silencing link perceptions of care from parents and partners with depressive symptoms?

Silencing the self is a theory of women's depression that proposes that dep ression results from women being inauthentic in key relationships. In this study, we linked this theory to a substantial empirical literature indicati ng that adult depression is associated both with perceptions that parents w ere rejecting during childhood, and with perceptions that the current roman tic partner is critical. We hypothesized that rejecting childhood relations with parents and/or a romantic relationship with a critical partner might contribute to self-silencing, which, in turn, might lead to heightened vuln erability to depression. This hypothesis was tested in a community sample o f 99 women and 47 men who reported being in committed romantic relationship s. The results indicated that, among women, only current romantic relations hips were associated with self-silencing. Silencing also mediated the assoc iation between perceived spousal criticism and depressive symptoms. Women w ho perceived their partner as critical and intolerant were more likely to p resent a compliant facade while feeling angry, which was associated with hi gher levels of depression. Among men, self-silencing was associated both wi th perceptions of the father as cold and rejecting, and with perceptions of the romantic partner as critical and intolerant. Furthermore, self-silenci ng mediated the associations between depressive symptoms and perceptions of the father and of the current romantic partner. Thus, our study supports t he hypothesis that self-silencing is associated with the current interperso nal context in particular.