Self-Evaluation and Depressive Symptoms: A Latent Variable Analysis of Self-Esteem, Shame-Proneness, and Self-Criticism

This paper examined the unique associations of latent self-esteem with symptoms of depression, over-and-above latent shame-proneness (study 1) and latent self-criticism (study 2), among two samples of undergraduate students. In study 1, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed convergent and discriminant validity for most measures of shame-proneness and self-esteem. Shame-proneness and self-esteem (taken separately) were strongly related to depressive symptoms. Controlling for each other, self-esteem but not shame-proneness remained associated with depressive symptoms. In study 2, CFA showed convergent validity but not discriminant validity for measures of self-criticism and low self-esteem. Self-esteem and self-criticism (taken separately) were strongly related to depressive symptoms. Controlling for each other, however, neither construct was significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that (a) self-esteem and shame-proneness have good discriminant validity, (b) self-esteem is uniquely related to depressive symptoms above and beyond shame-proneness, and (c) self-report measures of self-criticism and self-esteem have poor discriminant validity.