Date of Graduation

1997

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Traditional theories of depression have posited dependency as a predisposing factor for or a symptom of depression. It is important to examine the difference between healthy interdependency and destructive relationships. Jack (1991) has developed a scale for measuring schemas used by women in guiding their intimate relationships. The Silencing The Self Scale (STSS) has four subscales and has been found to correlate with measures of depression across several populations. This study expands on the initial work by using STSS with a West Virginia Appalachian population of male (n = 76) and female (n = 100) undergraduates and women (n = 70) in shelters for battered women. There were three principal findings: (a) undergraduate men scored as high as undergraduate women on STSS, but scored significantly lower on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), highlighting the complexity of self-silencing across genders; (b) Women in this study scored higher on STSS and BDI than those in Jack's original study, indicating perception of poverty and cultural identity may have an effect on self-silencing and depression; and (c) the factor structure for STSS is generally as Jack hypothesized, with some subscales being stronger than others. Suggestions were made concerning alteration of some items. Self-silencing is a difficult construct to define. The STSS may be offering more individualized information about depression that the BDI does not assess. Discussion for future research and possible uses of STSS are discussed.

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