Psychological Risk Factors for Depression in the UK General Population: Derailment, Self-Criticism and Self-Reassurance

UK depression prevalence is increasing. Although the high relevance of psychological factors including derailment, self-criticism and self-reassurance, to depression has been reported, these relationships had not been evaluated in UK populations. Accordingly, this study aimed to appraise these relationships and identify individual differences within the UK general population indicating those at higher risk. UK participants (N = 107) completed self-report measures regarding those constructs. Correlation and path analyses were used to assess relationships and test directions. Derailment and self-criticism predicted depression positively, whereas self-reassurance predicted depression negatively. Self-criticism mediated derailment’s relation to depression. Self-reassurance moderated derailment’s relation to depression, with low self-reassurance indicating greater depression, though self-reassurance was not found to moderate the effect of derailment associated self-criticism on depression. Research into depression treatment should therefore include derailment as a target factor to be reduced, since derailment indicates a risk of depression for individuals with high self-criticism or low self-reassurance.