The relationships between self-criticism, submissive behavior and depression among Turkish adolescents

The purpose of this research was to study the relationships between two dysfunctional forms of negative self-evaluation: Comparative Self-Criticism and Internalized Self-Criticism, submissive behavior and depression. Subjects were 235 high school students and 157 university students who completed The Levels of Self-Criticism (LOSC), the Submissive Acts Scale (SAS) and the Beck Depression Inventory. Multiple regression analyses showed that Comparative Self-Criticism and submissive behavior are independent predictors of depression in both high school and university students whereas no such relationship was demonstrated for Internalized Self-Criticism. These findings provide support for sensitivity to external standards rather than internal ones in middle and late adolescence being relevant to depression.