Relationship Quality Moderates Depressive-Symptom Associations With Negative Self-Perceptions and Partner Metaperceptions
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Depression is associated with persistent negative self-beliefs and altered social information processing. Although considerable research has examined self-perception in depression, less is known about how depressive symptoms relate to beliefs about how romantic partners perceive the self and whether relationship quality moderates these associations. The present study investigated associations between depressive symptoms, self-perceptions, metaperceptions of partner evaluations, and memory for self-referential information across multiple social perspectives. A sample of 171 adults in romantic relationships completed measures of depressive symptoms and relationship quality, an adapted Self-Referential Encoding Task assessing evaluations from the self, a romantic partner, and a neutral researcher, and a subsequent memory assessment. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with more negative self-perceptions and more negative beliefs about how romantic partners viewed the self, but not with perceptions attributed to the neutral researcher. Relationship quality moderated the association between depressive symptoms and negative self- and partner-related perceptions, with weaker associations observed among participants reporting higher-quality relationships. Memory analyses focused on self-reference effects across social perspectives. Memory sensitivity was higher for self- and partner-encoded items than for researcher-encoded items and for negative than positive items. However, there was no consistent evidence that depressive symptoms, relationship quality, or their interaction predicted these self-reference effects. These findings suggest that depressive symptoms extend beyond self-evaluation to include assumptions about how emotionally significant others perceive the self, with relationship quality shaping the strength of these associations. The findings underscore the importance of considering partner-related metaperceptions and relationship context when examining interpersonal processes associated with depression.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Nida Civici, Andrew Martin
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213561233