Role of Depressive Symptoms in the Expression 
of Self-silencing and Anger in Women

Abstract

Background: In the Indian sociocultural context, women are disproportionately affected by mental health concerns, irrespective of their occupational status. The coping mechanisms employed to manage daily stressors are often maladaptive, contributing to the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. These conditions may further impair their affect regulation, particularly in the expression of anger. Purpose: The study aims to see the role of depressive symptoms as a mediator of self-silencing and expression of anger among women living in the National Capital Region of Delhi, northern part of India, considering their possible consequences on women’s psychological well-being. Methods: This was a cross-sectional design with 201 participants aged 25–50 years, divided into two groups of 100 Working Women (WW) and 101 Non-Working Women (NWW), using the measures of Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the State–Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2. Statistical analysis was conducted using International Business Machines Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBMSPSS) Statistics software, version 28.0, to perform both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The results indicate robust findings on the mediational analysis of depressive symptoms between self-silencing and expression of anger. The direct effect of self-silencing on expression of rage was β = 1.01 (p < .01); β = 0.56 (p < .01). The total indirect effect (β = 0.456, p < .01) through the mediator, with a point estimate of 0.4617. Significant difference was found between WW and NWW on the domains of self-silencing, depressive symptoms and anger expression. Conclusion: In the light of this, there is an alarming concern over the mitigation of these factors related to the mental health of women, who negotiate both professional and household roles in Indian context.