Parental criticism, self-criticism and their relation to depressive mood: An exploratory study among a non-clinical population

Abstract

Internalized self-criticism (ISC) has been identified as one dimension of depression and has been related to poor interpersonal functioning, severity of depressive symptoms among patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and suicidal behaviors. Finally, it has been indicated as a maintaining factor in depression, able to impair the efficacy of psychological treatment. The present study aimed to investigate the role of perceived parental criticism, perfectionistic concern over mistakes and ruminative brooding in predicting internalized self-criticism; in addition, we explored the predictive value of all the considered variables for depressive mood in a nonclinical population. The final model showed a complete mediation for concern over mistakes and ruminative brooding in the relationship between perceived parental criticism and ISC, with the final model explaining 32% of the variance. Moreover, ISC predicted the level of depressive symptoms over and above the contribution of the other variables considered. The findings suggest that a thinking style characterized by ruminative brooding and the tendency to be concerned with mistakes can facilitate the development of a self-critical person, more than a parental style perceived as critical. Moreover, the tendency to be self-critical may be more predictive of depressive symptoms than the other variables considered.

Full text

[Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2016; 19:178] [page 41]
Introduction
Self-criticism has been linked to a number of psycho-
logical disorders, with depression being the most promi-
nent, as well as other dysfunctional tendencies (Powers
& Zuroff, 1992). More specifically, internalized self-crit-
icism (ISC) has been identified as a specific component
of self-criticism and it has been defined as a form of self-
devaluation arising from a comparison between the pres-
ent situation and internal personal standards (Thompson
& Zuroff, 2000). In the theory proposed by the authors,
individuals with high levels of ISC focus on a negative
view of a lacking self as a reaction to both success and
failure: this is how ISC may maintain a global and nega-
tive self-judgment that can in turn facilitate the persever-
ation of depressive symptoms and maladaptive behavioral
patterns.
Several studies have investigated the role of self-crit-
icism in many psychological issues, such as anxiety dis-
orders and eating disorders (Cox, Fleet, & Stein, 2004;
Cox, Mac Pherson, Enns, & McWilliams, 2004; Dunkey
& Grilo, 2007; Dunkley, Masheb, & Grilo, 2010; Fennig
et al., 2008; Lobera, Estébanez, Fernandez, Bautista, &
Garrido, 2009; McCranie & Hyer, 1995). Concerning
mood disorders, cognitive pioneers have shown that neg-
ative judging and condemning automatic thoughts con-
cerning the self are deeply related to depression (Beck,
Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979); furthermore, empirical re-
search has confirmed the importance of self-criticism as
a specific cognitive process and a marker feature of de-
pressive disorders (Hartlage, Arduino, & Alloy, 1998).
Moreover, self-criticism has shown a strong correlation
with the severity of depressive symptoms among patients
with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder: it has been
strongly related to suicidal behaviors and it has been in-
dicated as a maintaining factor in depression, able to im-
pair the efficacy of psychological treatment (Cox, Enns,
& Clara, 2004; Fazaa & Page, 2003; Luyten et al., 2007;
Parental criticism, self-criticism and their relation to depressive mood:
an exploratory study among a non-clinical population
Chiara Manfredi,1,2 Gabriele Caselli,1,2 Federica Pescini,1Martina Rossi,1Daniela Rebecchi,1Giovanni Maria Ruggiero,1,2
Sandra Sassaroli1
1Studi Cognitivi, Psychotherapy School, Milan; 2Sigmund Freud University, Milan, Italy
ABSTRACT
Internalized self-criticism (ISC) has been identified as one dimension of depression and has been related to poor interpersonal func-
tioning, severity of depressive symptoms among patients with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and suicidal behaviors. Finally,
it has been indicated as a maintaining factor in depression, able to impair the efficacy of psychological treatment. The present study
aimed to investigate the role of perceived parental criticism, perfectionistic concern over mistakes and ruminative brooding in predicting
internalized self-criticism; in addition, we explored the predictive value of all the considered variables for depressive mood in a non-
clinical population. The final model showed a complete mediation for concern over mistakes and ruminative brooding in the relationship
between perceived parental criticism and ISC, with the final model explaining 32% of the variance. Moreover, ISC predicted the level
of depressive symptoms over and above the contribution of the other variables considered. The findings suggest that a thinking style
characterized by ruminative brooding and the tendency to be concerned with mistakes can facilitate the development of a self-critical
person, more than a parental style perceived as critical. Moreover, the tendency to be self-critical may be more predictive of depressive
symptoms than the other variables considered.
Key words: Self-criticism; Ruminative brooding; Depressive symptoms; Concern over mistakes; Parental criticism.
Correspondence: Chiara Manfredi, Studi Cognitivi, Psychotherapy
School, Foro Buonaparte 57, 20121 Milan, Italy.
Tel: +39.02.4150998 - Fax +39.02.87238216.
E-mail: c.manfredi@studicognitivi.net
Citation: Manfredi, C., Caselli, G., Pescini, F., Rossi, M., Rebecchi,
D., Ruggiero, G.M., Sassaroli, S. (2016). Parental criticism, self-
criticism and their relation to depressive mood: an exploratory
study among a non-clinical population. Research in Psychother-
apy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 19(1):41-48. doi:
10.4081/ripppo.2016.178
Received for publication: 15 June 2015.
Accepted for publication: 24 December 2015.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-
Commercial 4.0 License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
©Copyright C. Manfredi et al., 2016
Licensee PAGEPress, Italy
Research in Psychotherapy:
Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2016; 19:41-48
doi:10.4081/ripppo.2016.178
Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2016; volume 19:41-48
Non-commercial use only

Marshall, Zuroff, McBride, & Bagby, 2008; Parker &
Crawford, 2009).
There are some clinical constructs that can show partial
overlapping with ISC, and thus can be characteristic of a
self-critical person. More specifically, literature has shown
discordant results investigating the relationship among ISC,
perfectionistic concern over mistakes (CM) and ruminative
brooding (B), and trying to determine the role of each con-
struct in predicting depressive symptoms. As the more mal-
adaptive and dysfunctional aspect of perfectionism, CM
has been defined as the tendency to react negatively to mis-
takes, to interpret mistakes as equivalent to failure, and to
believe that one will lose the respect of others following
failure (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990). Re-
search has shown that people high in perfectionistic CM
react with more negative mood, lowered confidence and a
greater sense that they should have done better when facing
a mistake, compared to subjects low in perfectionistic CM.
Furthermore, subjects scoring high on perfectionistic CM
think that others seeing their performance will perceive
them as less intelligent than people with low perfectionistic
CM do (Frost et al., 1995). Even if perfectionistic CM is
related to self-criticism, it is a conceptually distinct con-
struct: while the first involves the striving to be perfect and
to avoid mistakes or flaws, the latter does not inherently
demand striving for perfection.
Ruminative brooding has been defined as a persevera-
tive, negative and cyclic thinking style focused on personal
problems, negative sensations and thoughts as well as their
consequences (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1991). This
kind of response typically involves narrowly focusing and
ruminating on one’s negative emotions, and in the case of
negative emotions associated with personal failure or inad-
equacies there is an exaggerated focus on implications for
self-worth, leading to overly severe judgments and criti-
cisms of the self (Neff, 2003; Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). In
this view, B can be related to both ISC and depressive
mood, even if it represents a different and distinct construct:
while ISC implies a particular focus on what the self is
missing in order to be better and to have better perform-
ance, B represents a process and a way of thinking that can
focus on others or on the circumstances, trying to under-
stand the causes and the consequences of depressed mood.
The relationship between ISC and B is still unclear: some
studies have identified a mediating role of B in the relation-
ship between ISC and depressive symptoms and others
have found that ISC predicted depressive mood while B
did not (e.g., Kasch, Klein, & Lara, 2001; Olson & Kwon,
2008; Spasojevic & Alloy, 2001).
Moving from what research has shown to date, aiming
at a deeper understanding of the role of ISC in predicting
depressive symptoms, it is important to better investigate its
links with other cognitive features such as CM and B, and
to define which ones among parental characteristics can rep-
resent vulnerability factors for the development of ISC.
Early experiences have been shown to influence per-
sonal schemas about self, others and interpersonal relation-
ships, and a parental style characterized by low care, high
standards and frequent critiques has been associated with
anxiety, depressive symptoms and negative self-schemas
(Gibb, 2002; Rose & Abramson, 1992). We can hypothe-
size that a peculiar worry about possible mistakes (CM)
and the tendency to ruminate upon possible failures (B)
could be derived by learned relational scripts, that lead a
person to relate to him/herself in the same way important
people (i.e. parents) have done during childhood (Baldwin,
1992, 1997; Bowlby, 1980). In turn, being alerted about
mistakes and going on to ruminate about the past can en-
hance the probability of being self-critical (ISC).
To our knowledge, no research to date has directly in-
vestigated the relationship between the level of criticism
perceived during childhood and the development of ISC in
adulthood. As far as we know, there are only two studies
that have investigated these features, but they are focused
on different conceptualizations of family environment, in-
vestigating parental verbal abuse and family attitude
(Bolton, Barrowclough, & Calam, 2009; Sachs-Ericsson,
Verona, Joiner, & Preacher, 2006); finally, one study inves-
tigated the relationship between parental criticism and de-
pression, but it involved clinic-referred adolescents
(Brewin, Andrews, & Furnham, 1996).
Starting from these findings, the present study aimed
at understanding how perceived parental criticism can af-
fect the development of ISC as well as better investigat-
ing the consequences of levels of ISC on depressive
symptoms, controlling for CM and ruminative B. All the
variables included in the study have shown interrelations,
thus a deeper and more specific understanding of the re-
lationship between parental criticism, CM, B, ISC and
depressive symptoms may be useful to better focus clin-
ical interventions. Knowing which component con-
tributes to depressive symptoms, and to which extent, can
facilitate the tailoring of a specific and focused interven-
tions on antecedents that can facilitate or maintain de-
pressive symptoms.
More specifically, we hypothesized that: i) the ten-
dency to be concerned about possible mistakes (CM) and
ruminate on past failures (B) may mediate the relationship
between perceived parental criticism and ISC; ii) the ef-
fects of B and CM in predicting the level of depressive
mood may be mediated by the levels of ISC, confirming
previous studies that showed an interrelation between
these variables (e.g., Kasch et al., 2001; Olson & Kwon,
2008; Spasojevic & Alloy, 2001).
Methods
Participants
The sample consisted of 194 non-clinical subjects (55
males and 139 females) aged between 17 and 67 years
[mean=35.9, standard deviation (SD)=9.55]. Data were
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collected through the web, uploading the questionnaires
on a survey platform and spreading the URL among social
networks and websites. Thirty-four subjects left some
questionnaires incomplete and were thus excluded from
data analyses. The average numbers of years of education
of the sample was 16.13 (SD=3.37; range=8-20) and was
entirely Caucasian.
Self-report instruments
All the self-report measures administered for the pur-
pose of this research were collected together in a batch
that included the following.
Levels of self-criticism scale (LOSCS; Thompson &
Zuroff, 2004). This is a scale with two subscales: ISC and
comparative self-criticism (CSC): while the first is con-
ceptualized as a negative view of the self in comparison
with internal, personal standards, the latter is defined as a
negative view of the self in comparison with others. The
levels of self-criticism scale contains 22 items (12 for
CSC and 10 for ISC). Each item consists of a statement,
and participants indicate how much the statement de-
scribes them on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all)
to 7 (very well). Thompson and Zuroff (2000) reported
good reliability with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.81
for CSC and of 0.87 for ISC. They also reported a mod-
erate correlation between CSC and ISC (r=0.45). For the
present study we used an Italian version translated and ap-
proved by the authors; moreover, only ISC was adminis-
tered to the subjects and it showed a good reliability, with
a coefficient alpha of 0.84. Examples of items of the ISC
subscale are When I don’t succeed, I find myself wonder-
ing how worthwhile I am and I get very upset when I fail.
Beck depression inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward,
Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). This is a 21-item
self-report instrument assessing the common affective,
cognitive, behavioral and somatic symptoms of depres-
sion. Respondents are required to indicate the degree to
which they have been bothered by each symptom during
the past week including today. Each symptom is rated on
a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely).
Total scores range from 0 to 63, with higher scores corre-
sponding to higher levels of depressive symptoms. Beck
depression inventory has been used extensively in both
clinical and non-clinical populations and has shown good
psychometric properties (Beck, Steer, & Garbin, 1988).
For the present study the Italian version of the question-
naire was used (Ghisi, Flebus, Montano, Sanavio, & Sica,
2006). Beck depression inventory in out sample showed
good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.87).
Perceived criticism inventory (PCI; Apparigliato,
Ruggiero, & Sassaroli, 2007). This is a self-report instru-
ment comprising 4 subscales, investigating: i) the amount
of criticism experienced, ii) the critical themes, iii) how
criticism has been expressed, and iv) the degree of per-
sonal agreement or disagreement with others’ disapproval.
For the purpose of this study, we administered only the
subscale investigating the amount of parental criticism ex-
perienced by the subjects (PCI-Q), with 11 items describ-
ing a parental attitude characterized by blame and
criticism towards children’s choices and behaviors. Sub-
jects are required to evaluate the frequency of these cri-
tiques as performed by their parents on a 5-point scale,
ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The measure has
demonstrated good psychometric properties (Apparigliato
et al., 2007); in our sample it showed a good reliability,
with a coefficient alpha of 0.94.
Ruminative responses scale (RRS) of the response
style questionnaire (RSQ; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow,
1991). This is a 22-item sub-scale of the 71-item RSQ,
which measures the propensity to ruminate in response to
depression. Respondents are required to indicate the de-
gree to which they engage in a ruminative thinking style
when feeling depressed. Each item is rated on a 4-point
scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 4 (always). Total
scores range from 22 to 88, with higher scores correspon-
ding to higher levels of rumination. The sub-scale pos-
sesses good psychometric properties and has been
extensively used (Just & Alloy, 1997; Nolan, Roberts, &
Gotlib, 1998; Nolen-Hoeksema & Davis, 1999). Recent
research has suggested further dividing RRS into two sub-
scales, ruminative brooding and reflections, both showing
good reliability (α=0.82 and 0.85, respectively). In this
study we used the Italian version by Palmieri, Gasparre,
and Lanciano (2007); both the subscales in our sample
showed good reliability (α=0.80 and 0.73, respectively).
Multidimensional perfectionism scale (MPS; Frost et
al., 1990). This scale provides six subscales for a multi-
dimensional assessment of perfectionism: CM, personal
standards (PS), parental expectations (PE), parental criti-
cism (PC), doubts about actions (D), and organization (O).
Since CM has been indicated as the central cognitive fea-
ture of perfectionism, for the purposes of this research we
administered only this subscale, with 9 items answered
on a 5-point agreement scale ranging from 1 (completely
agree) to 5 (completely disagree). Internal consistency has
ranged from good to excellent for each of the subscales
(αs=0.77-0.93) and the total perfectionism score (α=0.90;
Frost et al., 1990); internal consistency in our sample was
good (α=0.90).
Procedure
The research project was approved by the ethics com-
mittee of the Italian Research Center Studi Cognitivi. Par-
ticipants received the research project content via on-line
distribution and Internet advertising and all took part on
a voluntary and unpaid basis. Questionnaires were distrib-
uted both via e-mails and using an on-line survey platform
that allowed participants to complete all the question-
naires at home and assured them of complete anonymity.
The research project was explained to participants in a
written introduction as an investigation on the relation-
ships between parental criticism, self-criticism and de-
[Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2016; 19:178] [page 43]
Self-criticism and depressive mood
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pressive mood. All participants were informed that data
provided in the research project would be anonymous and
that they could withdraw at any time if they wished. Fol-
lowing a brief introduction regarding the aim of the re-
search project, participants provided informed consent
and were instructed to complete the questionnaires anony-
mously. All participants had the possibility to contact the
authors via e-mail for debriefing and to receive more de-
tails about the research project.
Statistic analyses
Missing and incomplete data were excluded from the
analyses. The first part of the analyses involved data de-
scription and the computing of correlational analyses. In
order to investigate the relationship between parental crit-
icism, B, CM, ISC and depressive symptoms, and to test
the possible mediating role of ruminative B and CM in
the relationship between parental criticism and depressive
symptoms, we run two meditational analyses using INDI-
RECT script version 4.1 for SPSS version 16.0 for Win-
dows (Preacher & Hayes, 2008).
Results
Data description
An inspection of histograms, skewness and kurtosis
showed that all the variables assessed were normally dis-
tributed. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses
for all the variables are presented in Table 1. Pearson
product-moment correlations showed that both ISC and
BDI were positively correlated with perceived parental
criticism, B and CM. There were no significant mean dif-
ferences for all the variables considered if comparing
males with females and considering different age ranges.
Mediational analysis 1: effect of perceived parental
criticism, concern over mistakes and ruminative
brooding on internalized self-criticism
To investigate whether the effect of perceived
parental criticism could be accounted by CM and R we
used a meditational analysis (Figure 1). This allows ver-
ification of the extent to which a proposed mediator car-
ries the influence of an independent variable to a
dependent variable. In our model, parental criticism was
entered as the independent variable, ISC was entered as
the dependent variable and CM and B were entered as
mediators. Statistical analyses were carried out using IN-
DIRECT script version 2.13 for SPSS version 21.0 for
Windows (Hayes, 2013).
The bootstrap test of indirect effects confirmed that
CM and B mediated the effect of parental criticism on ISC
(Figure 1). The Sobel test was statistically significant (B:
z=2.67, P=0.01; CM: z=4.29, P=0.00; Total: z=5.32,
P=0.00) with indirect effect estimate (IE) for B=0.10, 95%
confidence interval (CI) (0.02, 0.17), for CM=0.19, 95%
CI (0.12, 0.30) and for total=0.29, 95% CI (0.19, 0.41).
The mediation of B and CM was significant and the path
from perceived parental criticism to ISC was not signifi-
cant when controlling for B and CM, suggesting a com-
plete mediation relationship.
Mediational analysis 2: effect of perceived parental
criticism, concern over mistakes, ruminative brooding
and internalized self-criticism on depressive symptoms
To investigate whether levels of depressive symp-
toms could be accounted for by levels of ISC, we used
the same mediational approach as in the previous analy-
sis. In our model, B and CM were entered as independ-
ent variables in turn, with one entered as the
independent variable and the other entered as covariate,
perceived parental criticism was entered as a covariate,
depressive symptoms were entered as the dependent
variable and ISC was entered as the mediator (Figures
2 and 3, respectively). The bootstrap test of indirect ef-
fects confirmed that ISC mediated the effect of B and
CM on depressive symptoms (Figures 2 and 3). IE esti-
mate was 0.15, 95% CI (0.07, 0.26) considering CM as
the independent variable and 0.16, 95% CI (0.05, 0.35)
considering B as the independent variable. The media-
tion of ISC was significant and the path from CM and
B to depressive symptoms was not significant when
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Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and two-tailed Pearson product-moment correlations of study variables (n=194).
Mean score SD BDI PCI-Q RRS-B MPS-CM
ISC 37.83 11.27 0.508** 0.275** 0.421** 0.543**
BDI 7.14 6.03 - 0.246** 0.349** 0.362**
PCI-Q 27.28 9.83 - - 0.410** 0.387**
RRS-B 10.32 3.21 - - - 0.473**
MPS-CM 20.89 7.10 - - - -
SD, standard deviation; BDI, Beck depression inventory; PCI-Q, parental criticism experienced by the subjects; RRS-B, ruminative responses scale-brooding; MPS-CM, multidimensional per-
fectionism scale-concern over mistakes; ISC, internalized self-criticism. **Correlation is significant at a 0.01 level.
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[Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome 2016; 19:178] [page 45]
Self-criticism and depressive mood
Figure 1. Changes in concern over mistakes and ruminative brooding completely mediated the effect of perceived parental crit-
icism on change in internalized self-criticism. Parameter estimates are standardized coefficients. The value in parentheses is
the standardized coefficient of the direct effect of perceived parental criticism without concern over mistakes and ruminative
brooding entered in the model. Bootstrap samples=1000. *P<0.05.
Figure 2. Change in internalized self-criticism completely mediated the effect of ruminative brooding on change in depressive
symptoms. Parameter estimates are standardized coefficients. The value in parentheses is the standardized coefficient of the di-
rect effect of ruminative brooding without internalized self-criticism entered in the model. Bootstrap samples=1000. *P<0.05.
Figure 3. Change in internalized self-criticism completely mediated the effect of concern over mistakes on change in depressive
symptoms. Parameter estimates are standardized coefficients. The value in parentheses is the standardized coefficient of the di-
rect effect of concern over mistakes without internalized self-criticism entered in the model. Bootstrap samples=1000. *P<0.05.
Non-commercial use only

controlling for ISC, suggesting a complete mediation
relationship.
Discussion
In the present research, we investigated how much
perceived parental criticism, perfectionistic CM and ru-
minative B could predict the level of ISC, as well as the
influence of all the variables considered on the presence
and strength of depressive symptoms. Data analyses in-
dicated that all the variables assessed could individually
predict the dependent variables, but when analyzed to-
gether in order to predict levels of ISC first, and depres-
sive symptoms secondly, perceived parental criticism lost
its predictive power, showing the complete mediating role
of CM and B on ISC, and of ISC on depressive symptoms.
Focusing on the first part of the analyses, results
showed that a psychological attitude characterized by CM
and ruminative B enhanced the probability of determining
a self-critical adult over and above the perception of hav-
ing had high critical parents. We can hypothesize that per-
ceiving parents as strongly critical can influence the
tendency to self-criticize and, as a consequence, to be
more vulnerable in manifesting depressive symptoms in
two possible ways: an interpersonal way (perceived
parental criticism may lead to a cognitive vulnerability to
critiques made by others) and an internalized way (chil-
dren may directly learn to relate to themselves in the same
critical way parents used to relate to them) (Brewin et al.,
1996). Self-criticism may then result as a strategy em-
ployed in order to continuously correct oneself and thus
avoid the possibility of receiving critiques by others and
having to cope with the related emotional grief. Finally,
it is possible that perceiving parents as critical, most of
all in a period of life when they should teach the child
functional coping styles, can develop a passive cognitive
control strategy employed in order to analyze all the neg-
ative external and internal events through self-focused at-
tention (ruminative B) that may in turn sustain an internal
and generalized locus of control and the attribution of re-
sponsibility for failures (ISC).
Focusing on the second part of our analyses, ISC can
predict depressive symptoms over and above CM and ru-
minative B. The complete mediating role of ISC in the re-
lationship between perceived parental criticism and
depressive symptoms replicated the findings of previous
studies (Bolton et al., 2009; Brewin et al., 1996; Enns,
Cox, & Larsen, 2000; Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2006), while
the strengths of ISC in predicting depressive symptoms
over and above CM replicated a study by Dunkley, Zuroff,
and Blankstein (2003), who found that the most robust
predictor of maladjustment and depressive symptoms
among perfectionism components was self-criticism and
that self-criticism appeared to be a promising candidate
to capture the most critical pathological component of
perfectionism.
It is noteworthy that ruminative B could not directly
predict depressive mood, as seen in the literature that in-
dicated ruminative B as the most important factor in in-
creasing the severity of depressed episodes (e.g.,
Nolen-Hoeksema, Parker, & Larson, 1994) and prolong-
ing them (Lyubomirsky & Nolen-Hoeksema, 1995). In
this sense, it seems that, among a non-clinical population,
being self-critical facilitates depressive symptoms over
and above being ruminative. Overall, we can suppose that
these differences in the explanative role of B and self-
criticism can be due to the nature of the sample, who was
not clinically depressed, but representative of the general
population.
Concerning clinical implications, even considering
the employment of a non-clinical sample, the findings
of this research stressed the importance of assessing and
addressing ISC as a dysfunctional cognitive habit em-
ployed to cope with both success and failure experi-
ences, in order to prevent and treat depressive mood. In
addition, the correlations found between all the variables
considered and the meditational model emerging from
the analyses stressed the need to consider more than one
cognitive process in the case formulation and during the
treatment of depressive symptoms, even from a devel-
opmental point of view. These results suggest moving
beyond treatment protocols focused on the most proba-
ble dysfunctional process, towards modular protocols
that may cover both core and elective topics selected on
the basis of a more detailed case formulation. In this
sense, for example, clinical interventions focused on CM
and ruminative B could impair negative effects of ISC
and, in turn, weaken depressive symptoms: learning how
to tolerate the possibility of being mistaken could lead
the person to be less critical towards his or her standards.
Finally, addressing ruminative B and replacing it with
an active problem solving process can lead the person to
reach a major sense of self-efficacy and weaken the ten-
dency to self-criticize, lessening in turn depressive
symptoms.
The limitations of this research included the use of a
non-clinical sample, with a broad age range and mostly
composed by females: these aspects narrow the clinical rel-
evance of the results. Moreover, we did not have the possi-
bility to directly manipulate the variables considered, so it
was not possible to identify causal relationships but only
correlational and predictive links. All the results presented
the limits typical of the self-report instruments employed,
like social desirability, self-report biases and context effect
that could have contributed to mistakes and distortions in
self-reporting. Given the retrospective nature of some
measures employed (such as the evaluation of perceived
parental criticism), it is possible that some difficulties in re-
call might have contributed to distortion and biasing of par-
ticipants’ answers. Again, negative life events were not
assessed, and this represents a limit considered the high cor-
relation among this aspect and depressive symptoms. Fi-
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nally, the sample was entirely Caucasian and thus limits the
possibility of generalizing the results.
Conclusions
Future research could further investigate the role of per-
ceived parental criticism in becoming self-critical and fur-
ther explore the relationship between self-criticism and
depressive symptoms. In this view, it could be helpful to
develop a longitudinal study that enables observing and as-
sessing these variables over time. Moreover, it could be
helpful both to extend the investigation to a wider popula-
tion, and to try to replicate it among a clinical sample of
depressed patients, in order to address possible similarities
between the samples and better understand the differences;
in this way, it would be interesting to address possible dif-
ferences in the relationship between the variables on a con-
tinuum of patients with different levels of depressive
symptoms, aiming to observe possible differences in cog-
nitive functioning depending on the levels of symptom
severity. Finally, it could be helpful to evaluate the mediat-
ing role of direct changes in ISC, ruminative B and CM
during psychological interventions in the reduction of de-
pressive symptoms in the context of prospective studies.
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