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Differentiation of Self, Interpersonal Conflict, and Depression: The Mediating Role of Anger Expression

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Abstract

The current study investigated how differentiation of self (Bowen in Family therapy in clinical practice. Jason Aronson, New York, 1978; Kerr and Bowen in Family evaluation. W. W. Norton and Company, New York, 1988) was related to interpersonal conflict and depression, and tested mediation hypotheses involving anger expression. The results revealed that anger expressed outwardly partially mediated the relationship between emotional reactivity and interpersonal conflict, and that anger expressed inwardly fully mediated the relationship between emotional cutoff and depression among 260 college students attending an urban university located in Midwestern United States.

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  1. University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA

    Soo-Whan Choi & Nancy L. Murdock

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  1. Soo-Whan Choi
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  2. Nancy L. Murdock
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Correspondence to Soo-Whan Choi.

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Choi, SW., Murdock, N.L. Differentiation of Self, Interpersonal Conflict, and Depression: The Mediating Role of Anger Expression. Contemp Fam Ther 39, 21–30 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-016-9397-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-016-9397-3

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