This study examined the link between rejection sensitivity, self-silencing behaviors, and depressive symptomatology among adolescent dating couples. Self-silencing was hypothesized to be the process mediating the association between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. Our sample included 211 couples between 14 and 21 who were dating at least 4 weeks. Results indicated that dating adolescents who were sensitive to rejection reported more depressive symptomatology and higher levels of self-silencing behaviors within their romantic relationship compared to dating adolescents who were not so sensitive to rejection. Self-silencing was identified as a partial mediator of the association between rejection sensitivity and depressive symptomatology among dating adolescents. Clinical implications in light of these findings are discussed.
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The high tolerance values of 0.96 for males and 0.91 for females indicate that multicollinearity was not an issue for this data.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our research collaborators on the Study of Tennessee Adolescents' Romantic Relationships (STARR) Project: Catherine Grello, Karen Wetzel, Peter Haugen, Sharon Risch, Rebecca Furr, and Laura Widman, our Project Coordinators: Amy Claxton, Kate Wilson, and Kelly Kaems, as well as numerous research assistants. Finally, we thank the 420 adolescent couple members who generously shared important parts of their lives with us. This research was supported in part by Grant HD39931 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to Deborah Welsh. Portions of this paper were presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Tampa, FL in April, 2003.
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Melinda S. Harper Assistant professor of psychology at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her areas of interest include adolescent romantic relationships, psychodynamic therapy, and personality characteristics. Research interests include self-silencing behaviors in adolescents’ romantic and peer relationships, adolescents’ experiences of being alone and its association with relational and psychological well-being
MA, Doctoral candidate at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. His areas of interest include power, communication, and gender attitudes in adolescent romantic relationships
Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amhurst, Massachusetts. Her areas of interest include the development of adolescent romantic relationships and adolescents’ interactions
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Harper, M.S., Dickson, J.W. & Welsh, D.P. Self-Silencing and Rejection Sensitivity in Adolescent Romantic Relationships. J Youth Adolescence 35, 435–443 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9048-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9048-3