Abstract

This study aimed to verify the independent and sequential mediating effect of psychological acceptance and self-compassion in the relationship between external contingencies of self-worth and depression in college students. For this, data was collected about Korean Version of Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (K-CSWS), Korean Version of Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression Scale(K-CES-D), Korean Version of Self-Compassion Scale(K-SCS) and Korean Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II(K-AAQ-II) from 300 college students and the Structural Equation Model analysis was conducted on the collected data using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 22.0. In the analysis process, priority and other's approval are the sub-variable of external contingencies of self-worth which is the central area of interest of the study and were used for statistical analysis.As a result of this analysis, it was confirmed that psychological acceptance and self-compassion had significant independent and sequential mediating effects in the relationship between external contingencies of self-worth and depression. This study is significant in that it comprehensively confirmed the role of emotion regulation, which mediates the process of external contingencies of self-worth leading to depression, by dividing it into the dimension of emotional recognition and correction.