Mild depression and self-disclosure intimacy: Self and others' perceptions

Abstract

A study was conducted to examine the nature and intimacy of self-disclosures made by mildly depressed and nondepressed college students. Written statements about positive and negative topics were elicited from students, and the statements were evaluated as to tone and intimacy, first by the subjects themselves and then by a group of raters. Results indicated that the statements of the mildly depressed subjects were more negative in tone and more intimate than were those of the nondepressed subjects, but only in the negative topic condition. In general, subjects' self-evaluations of their statements were consistent with those of the raters, suggesting that they were aware of the intimacy of their disclosures. In addition, correlational analyses indicated that mood states were positively related to statement intimacy for the nondepressed subjects, but negatively related for the mildly depressed subjects. Results are discussed in terms of the relation involving self-disclosure styles, social interaction, and depression.