Self-Discrepancies and Depression: Abstract Reasoning Skills as a Moderator
Erin N. Stevens, Christine Keeports, Nicole J. Holmberg, M. C. Lovejoy, Laura Pittman, & Allison Behm
Northern Illinois University
Introduction:
 Self-discrepancy theory (SDT; Higgins, 1987) provides a framework for
understanding how discrepant beliefs about the self induce different types of
negative affect. Self-discrepancies have been found to differ between
depressed and nondepressed adults (e.g., Fairbrother & Moretti, 1998;
Higgins, Klein, & Strauman, 1985; Scott & O’Hara, 1993; Strauman, 1992),
 Some studies have found inconsistent, conflicting data when it comes to
supporting the main tenets of SDT(Higgins, 1987). However, the relationship
between self-discrepancies and emotional outcomes is hypothesized to be
moderated by theoretical factors that influence the significance of the
relationship (Boldero, Moretti, Bell, & Francis, 2005; Higgins, 1999).
 One potential moderator is cognitive development. SDT uses a neopiagetian theory to attempt to understand processes that underlie the
development of self-evaluative and self-regulatory processes. In sum,
abstract reasoning abilities, which develop during Piaget’s formal
operational stage, appear to be the cognitive-developmental antecedents of
distress that is often associated with self-discrepancies.
 The purpose of the study was to examine the moderating effect of abstract
reasoning abilities in the relation between actual:ideal (A:I) discrepancies and
depression in a college student sample.
 After controlling for gender, we expected that there would be a significant
interaction between A:I discrepancies and abstract reasoning abilities in
predicting depressive symptoms.
Method: Participants, Procedure, & Measures
 Undergraduate college students (N = 109; 48 males and 61 females) were
recruited from a mass testing pool at a mid-sized Midwestern U.S. public
university. Participants were excluded from analyses due to incomplete data
sets (i.e., not present for Time 2; n = 28) or more than one excluded attributes
(n = 3).The final sample included 78 college students; there were 37 men and
41 women included in the analyses.
 Ethnicity: 56% percent of the college students were Caucasian, 21% were
Black or African American, 12% were Hispanic or Latino, 5% percent were
Asian, 4% were biracial, and 1% identified as “other.”
 Average age = 19.8 years (SD = 1.7 years)
 Participants took part in a two-part study. At Time 1, participants completed the
discrepancy measure. Two to ten days later, at Time 2, participants completed:
 The Beck Depression Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, &
Brown, 1996). to measure depressive symptoms. We did not include the
suicide item, so our participants completed a 20-item BDI-II (α = .91).
 The Similarities (SI) subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth
Edition (WAIS-IV; Wechsler, 2008) as an indicator of abstract reasoning.
The SI subtest measures verbal concept formation and verbal reasoning,
and involves crystallized intelligence, abstract reasoning, and categorical
thinking.
Method: Measures
Results:
 Self-discrepancies: Discrepancies between actual and ideal selves were
measured using an adaptation of the Selves Questionnaire that is traditionally
used to measure self-discrepancy in adult samples (e.g., Higgins, 1987).
 To assess the ideal-self, the revised version of the measure instructed
participants to generate five ‘ideal’ attributes and rate the degree to which
they ideally would like to possess each attribute (7-point scale). To assess
the actual-self, participants were provided with a list of the five ideal-self
attributes they had previously reported. They were instructed to rate the
degree to which they currently possessed each attribute (7-point scale).
 A:I discrepancies were calculated by subtracting the score for each actual
attribute from the corresponding ideal attribute. An A:I discrepancy score
was calculated by averaging the five individual discrepancies.
Results:
 Preliminary Analyses: Means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations
for variables of interest were calculated (see Table 1).
 Hierarchical Multiple Regression: After adding the control variable (gender), A:I
discrepancies, abstract reasoning skills, and the interaction of the two were
used to predict depressive symptoms (see Table 2).
Table 1
Bivariate Correlations Among Variables of Interest
Variable Name
M
SD
1
2
1. Actual:Ideal Discrepancy
1.91 1.00
--
2. Similarities Raw Score
24.38 4.77
.08
--
3. Total BDI-II Score
*p < .05. **p <.01. ***p <.001.
10.18 7.11
.26*
.06
3
--
Table 2
Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting BDI-II Scores
Variable
B
SE B
β
R2
ΔR2
Step 1
.07
.07
Gender
-.33
.80
-.05
Actual:Ideal Discrepancies
1.77*
.81
.25*
Similarities
.05
.17
.04
Step 2
.15* .08*
Gender
-.29
.77
-.04
Actual:Ideal Discrepancies
1.27
.80
.18
Similarities
.09
.16
.06
Discrepancies x Similarities
.46*
.18
.29*
Note: *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Correspondence concerning this poster should be addressed to:
Erin N. Stevens, M.A., Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115. estevens@niu.edu
 The final model was significant, F(4, 77) = 3.17, p = .02, to the prediction of
participants’ reports of depressive symptoms. After probing the interaction, it
was revealed that for individuals with low abstract reasoning skills, the relation
between actual:ideal discrepancies and depression was not significantly
different from zero. For individuals with high abstract reasoning skills, as
discrepancies increased, the level of depressive symptoms increased.
Conclusions:
 The results of this study demonstrated that college students’ self-discrepancies
are related to depression, consistent with the prior research using adult
samples (see step 1 of the regression). However, abstract reasoning skills,
alone, are not associated with depressive symptoms.
 In the second step of the model, there was a significant interaction between
actual:ideal discrepancies and abstract reasoning abilities, providing tentative
evidence of the importance of abstract reasoning abilities in the depressioncognition association that could be related to the heightened risk for
depression among individuals with higher levels of cognitive development
compared to those with lower levels of cognitive development.
 Future examinations of the self-discrepancy model may benefit from
examining other potential moderators in the self-discrepancy-mood
relationship. Other potential moderators include age (e.g., developmental
effects), regulatory strength and chronic accessibility of goals, as well as other
measures of cognitive ability (e.g., executive functions).
 Limitations include the use of a college student population. To generalize to
the emergence of abstract reasoning skills (as per neo-piagetian theories), it
will be important to examine these effects in emerging adolescents.