A recent analysis of the relationship between perceived parental rearing style (PRS) and depression and anxiety concluded that offspring's perceptions of their relationships with their parents are related to their own depression. Perceptions of socialization in the family of origin have been broadened from perceived PRS to aspects of the family system. This study examined the following hypotheses: (1) perceived PRS is significantly related to depression; (2) perceptions of family environment are significantly related to depression in offspring; (3) perceptions of socialization in the family of origin are significantly related to personality traits which might be antecedents of depression; (4) introversion does not provide the bridge between perceptions of socialization on the one hand and depression and personality characteristics on the other hand; and (5) the state-specificity hypothesis provides an explanation for the relation between perceptions of socialization and personality characteristics. Subjects were 186 university undergraduates. Socialization, construed as PRS, and the family environment was assessed by the Child Report of Parental Behavior Inventory and the Family Environment Scale. The personality traits of self-esteem and self-efficacy were assessed by the Self-Esteem Inventory and the Self-Efficacy Scale; and depression by the Beck Inventory. The correlations between perceived socialization on the one hand and personality traits and depression on the other remained essentially unchanged when introversion and current depression were controlled statistically. (LLL)