Shame and guilt as mediators between dispositional optimism and symptom severity among mental health outpatients

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dispositional optimism is robustly associated with psychological wellbeing, and individuals with lower optimism tend to experience more depressive and anxiety symptoms. While mechanisms in this relationship such as coping and social integration have been explored, limited research has examined whether the self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt account for the association between dispositional optimism and psychological distress. The present study examined shame and guilt as mediators in the relation between dispositional optimism and depressive and anxiety symptom severity among 137 patients (M age = 33.5, SD = 12.08 years) seeking community-based mental health care. Mediation analyses using bootstrap 99% confidence intervals indicated significant mediation by guilt––but not shame––in the model predicting depressive symptoms, and significant mediation by shame––but not guilt––in the model predicting anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest differential effects of dispositional optimism on depressive and anxiety symptoms according to the predominance of shame- or guilt-related affects. Interventions seeking to reduce distress through promoting optimism may be enhanced by considering patients’ experiences of shame and guilt.