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THE ROLES OF SHAME, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Title
THE ROLES OF SHAME, GENDER, AND ETHNICITY IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Creator
Ogu, Precious Nnedimma
Date
2017, 2017-07
Description
Anxiety is commonly comorbid with depression and negatively influences recovery (van Balkom et al., 2008). The aim of this study was to...
Show moreAnxiety is commonly comorbid with depression and negatively influences recovery (van Balkom et al., 2008). The aim of this study was to examine shame as a possible link between depression and anxiety. Shame has been found associated with means of coping with depression and anxiety (Treeby &Bruno, 2012) and to mediate the relationship between stigma formation and depression severity (Hsu et al., 2008) and is related to anxiety in a variety of clinical and non-clinical populations (Fergus, Valentiner, McGrath, & Jencius, 2010; Li, Qian & Zhong 2005). Recent research has shown crosscultural differences in the meaning and experience of shame and in subsequent shame-related behaviors (Zhong et al., 2008). Shame had a stronger relationship with social anxiety in Chinese culture than in American culture (Zhong et al., 2008). And mediated the relationships between personality traits and social anxiety symptoms in a sample of Chinese adolescents (Li, Qian, & Zhong, 2005). Since shame has been found to be related to depression and to anxiety, it could follow that crosscultural differences also exist in the relationships among depression, anxiety, and shame. The first hypothesis of this study was that shame mediates the relationship between anxiety and depression, with higher levels of depression being related to higher levels of shame which, in turn, are related to higher levels of anxiety. The second hypothesis was that males and ethnic minorities exhibit a stronger relationship between depressive symptoms and shame. 250 adults who self-identified as Asian, Caucasian, or Hispanic were recruited through online postings on Craigslist.com and WeSearchTogether.org for a study of how viii peoples’ perception of their moods affects how they feel about themselves. Participants were provided a link to an online questionnaire, which they could fill out at their convenience. Upon completion, they were entered in a raffle to win one of four $50 gift cards. Participants completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Test of Self-Conscious Affect-Shame Scale-3, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Data were analyzed with the multiple regression based PROCESS program (Hayes, 2013) for studying mediation and moderation. The hypothesis regarding shame as a mediator was confirmed. The mediated effect of depression on anxiety through shame was significant. The direct effect also was significant, meaning that the mediation was partial. The shame-mediated path accounted for 8.3% of the total relationship between depression and anxiety. The hypothesis regarding ethnicity was partially confirmed. Being Asian (vs. Caucasian) significantly moderated the relationship between depression and shame, with the relationship being stronger for Asians. However, neither being Hispanic (vs. Caucasian) nor gender was a significant moderator. These results will hopefully foster more culturally-informed understanding of the place of anxiety symptoms in depression, and potentially motivate clinicians to pay attention to demographic variables and their implications during treatment of depression and anxiety.
M.S. in Psychology, July 2017
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