According to Blatt, personality characteristics affect our experience of depression, and are rooted in the development of our interpersonal interactions and self-identity.
Zuroff (2016) found that self-criticism showed stability across time both as a personality trait and as an internal state.
[9] Given that self-criticism is typically seen as a negative personality characteristic, it is important to note how some people develop such a trait.
Children of parents who use restrictive and rejecting practices have been shown to have higher levels of self-criticism at age 12.
[10] In this same study, women displayed stable levels of self-criticism from age 12 into young adulthood, while men did not.
These results show that parenting style can influence the development of self-critical personality, and these effects may potentially last into young adulthood.
Another study found that women who were higher in self-criticism reported both that their father was more dominant and their parents maintained strict control and were inconsistent in their expressions of affection.
[11] Not surprisingly, these women also reported that their parents tended to seek out achievement and success from their children, as opposed to remaining passive.
These studies show that certain experiences in childhood are associated with self-criticism, and the self-critical personality type then extends into later phases of development.
[14] A factor analysis showed that the perception of being less efficacious was mediated by self-criticism, over and above the effects of depressive status.
This research shows that self-criticism in particular plays an important role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and maternal efficacy.
[5] This same study found that self-critical individuals were also at an increased risk of experiencing depression chronically over the course of their lives.
[19] These three categories all deal with self-critical cognitions, and are measured by the Attitude Toward Self Scale, which Carver and Ganellen created.
In such a case extending treatment beyond the point when positive change is seen in depression symptoms may give the best results.
This same study also found that levels of perfectionism (which is related to self-critical personality) predicted the rate of change in depression status.
Sociotropy characterizes people who are socially dependent, and their main source of distress is interpersonal relationships.
[21] This research shows that personality characteristics can influence what kind of treatment is best for an individual, and that clinicians should be aware of these differences.