Self-silencing and depression in women and men: Comparative structural equation models

Three personality and sociocultural variables—self-concealment, self-esteem, and masculinity—were evaluated for their role in mediating the relation between self-silencing and depression. There were 825 male and female undergraduates who completed a questionnaire package that included the relevant measures. An analysis of structural equation models supported two hypothesized conceptualizations, each fitting either sex. For females, depression was predicted directly by self-silencing, self-concealment, and self-esteem, and mediated by indirect paths from self-concealment through self-esteem, from self-silencing through both self-concealment and self-esteem, and from masculinity through each of self-silencing, self-concealment, and self-esteem. For males, depression was predicted directly by self-silencing and self-concealment only, and mediated by indirect paths from self-silencing through both self-concealment and self-esteem, and from masculinity through each of self-silencing, self-concealment, and self-esteem. Among male respondents, self-esteem played a negligible role in levels of depression.