Cross-situational consistency in causal attributions: Does attributional style exist?

Two studies evaluated the concept of an attributional style, as operationalized by the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Study 1, with 1,333 undergraduates, examined the reliability and validity of the ASQ and analyzed the factor structure of the measure. Only weak evidence of a cross-situationally consistent attributional style was found. An attempt to identify Ss who tended to be very consistent in their causal attributions on the ASQ similarly did not provide strong support for the attibutional style concept. In Study 2, the relation between scores on the ASQ and causal attributions for actual negative events, as assessed by the Social Readjustment Rating Scale, were examined among 85 pregnant women. Attributional Style scores were poor predictors of actual causal attributions, and selecting highly consistent Ss did not improve the ASQ's predictive validity. Implications for the attributional style concept and an attributional analysis of depression are discussed. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and components of attributional complexity.

Tested the hypothesis that depression is associated with increased attributional complexity. In Study 1, 208 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Attributional Complexity Scale. Analyses provided support for the hypothesis. Examination of individual components of attributional complexity revealed that depressed Ss, relative to nondepressed Ss, were higher in level of motivation to engage in attributional processing, the tendency to make complex external attributions, and the use of temporal information. In Study 2, 132 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory and made simple or complex causal attributions for naturally occurring positive and negative outcomes. As in Study 1, the depressed Ss made a greater number of complex attributions. The roles of complexity and motivational factors in the attribution process and in depression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressed and nondepressed inpatients' cognitions of hypothetical events, experimental tasks, and stressful life events.

40 depressed (mean age 40 yrs) and 30 nondepressed (mean age 38 yrs 3 mo) inpatients' attributions and other cognitions were assessed for 3 types of situations: stressful life events (the Beck Depression Inventory), hypothetical events (Attributional Styles Questionnaire), and experimental (noise-escape) tasks. Depressed Ss manifested a greater depressive attributional style in response to stressful life events but did not differ from nondepressed Ss in their attributions of hypothetical events or experimental tasks. Correlations assessing cross-situational consistency of attributions were largely nonsignificant. Corrections for attenuation and analyses of trained evaluators' ratings of Ss' attributions did not substantially alter the pattern of results. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive attributional style and depression following childbirth.

The reformulated learned helplessness model posits that individuals who make internal, stable, and global attributions for undesired outcomes are more likely than others to become depressed when faced with important life events that are perceived as uncontrollable. Two questions arise from the reformulated learned helplessness model within the context of the event of childbirth. The 1st question is whether the relationship between depressive attributional style and concurrent depression found in college undergraduates can be extended to women anticipating the birth of their 1st child. The 2nd question is whether women's prenatal attributional style is predictive of depression in the 1st wk postpartum. 50 pregnant women (mean age 28.85 yrs) completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire and 3 measures of depression during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and 3 days postpartum. The results provide negligible support for the notion of depressive attributional style as defined by the hypothesis. Depression of clinical severity was reported by 2–6% of Ss during the 3rd trimester and by 10–24% postpartum. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Internal attributions and types of depression in college students: The learned helplessness model revisited.

Tested the relation between attributions and types of depression (with and without low self-esteem) postulated by reformulated learned helplessness theory vs. an alternative (R. Janoff-Bulman; see record 1981-01320-001). 334 Ss completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Janis-Field Feelings of Inadequacy Scale. Scores above 8 on the Beck were considered depressed. A median split on the Janis-Field scale divided Ss into those with and without low self-esteem. Clearest support was found for Janoff-Bulman's formulations. Depressed Ss with low self-esteem made more internal characterological attributions for bad events than the other groups. Nondepressed Ss made more internal behavioral attributions than depressed Ss. The implications for counseling and future research on depression and learned helplessness are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting depressive symptomatology: Cognitive-behavioral models and postpartum depression.

170 women (mean age 26.6 yrs), seen in their 2nd trimester of pregnancy, were followed-up about 3 mo postpartum. Level of depression (Beck Depression Inventory) was just as high during pregnancy as during the postpartum period. Several variables assessed during pregnancy and during the postpartum period were significant predictors of postpartum depression level, including measures of prepartum depression, attributional style, delivery stress, and stressful life events. The predictor variables accounted for about 40% of the variance in level of postpartum depression. Predictor variables from earlier research such as history of menstrual problems, parity, education, and income did not account for significant variance in postpartum depression level. These findings provide some evidence for the role of cognitive-behavioral factors and stressful life events in depression. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions for real and hypothetical events: Their relation to self-esteem and depression.

Examined the association between attributional style, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and general distress to test hypotheses derived from a learned helplessness model and B. Weiner's (see record 1979-28688-001) attributional model of motivation. 178 male and female undergraduates completed the Beck Depression Inventory, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and an attributional style questionnaire and were asked to make causal attributional ratings about 12 hypothetical events. 151 Ss also were asked to make diary ratings on 14 real events. Attributional ratings were internally consistent across events, but attributions about positive outcomes were either uncorrelated or positively correlated with attributions about negative outcomes, failing to support learned helplessness predictions that a single process underlies attributions about positive and negative events. As predicted, internal attributions for positive outcomes were primarily associated with high self-esteem. Only internal stable attributions for negative outcomes were related to depressive symptoms, consistent with Weiner's model. The pattern of correlation between attributions and general distress was essentially identical to that obtained with depressive symptoms. Attributions for real events were similar in their effects to ratings of hypothetical events. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children.

The reformulation of helplessness theory proposes that an insidious attributional style accompanies and predisposes depressive symptoms. The present study investigated predictions of the reformulation among 96 8–13 yr olds who completed the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and Children's Depression Inventory twice, 6 mo apart. 83 of their parents completed the adult ASQ and the Beck Depression Inventory at their children's 2nd testing. Children who attributed bad events to internal, stable, and global causes were more likely to report depressive symptoms than were children who attributed these events to external, unstable, and specific causes. This depressive attributional style predicted depressive symptoms 6 mo later, suggesting that it may be a risk factor for depression. Children's attributional style for bad events and their depressive symptoms converged with those of their mothers but not their fathers. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and attributional style: Interpretations of important personal events.

The reformulated helplessness model of depression predicts that depressed persons attribute negative life events to internal, stable, and global causes while attributing positive life events to external, unstable, and specific causes. In addition to these hypotheses, the present author predicted that depressed persons would attribute negative life events to more controllable causes when compared with nondepressed persons. A 3rd prediction was that depressed persons' controllable causal attributions would be more closely related to independent judgments of the controllability of events than would the attributions of nondepressed persons. These predictions were examined in 45 depressed and 46 nondepressed female undergraduates (determined by the Beck Depression Inventory). Ss reported important personal events, provided untutored explanations of their causes, and rated the importance of particular causes of these events. Results confirm predictions for the internal dimension and the controllable dimension for negative events. Results do not support the 3rd prediction. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explanatory style as a predictor of productivity and quitting among life insurance sales agents.

Tested the prediction of the reformulated learned helplessness model, which claims that the tendency to explain bad events by internal, stable, and global causes potentiates quitting when bad events are encountered. Two studies were conducted, using a total of 197 life insurance agents as Ss. Explanatory style, as measured by the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), correlated with and predicted the performance of the Ss. In a cross-sectional study, Ss scoring in the top half of the ASQ sold 37% more insurance in their 1st 2 yrs of service than those scoring in the bottom half. In a prospective 1-yr study of newly hired agents, Ss who scored in the top half of the ASQ when hired remained in their job at twice the rate and sold more insurance than those scoring in the bottom half of the ASQ. These 2 studies support the claim that a pessimistic explanatory style leads to poor productivity and quitting when bad events are experienced, and they extend the usefulness of the ASQ to the workplace. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive correlates of depressive symptoms in hospitalized adolescents

This study examined the relationship between self-reported depression and cognitive style in adolescent inpatients. Attributional style, perceived control over environmental events, and hopelessness were assessed in 80 consecutive admissions to an adolescent psychiatric unit. BDI scores were used to classify 36 patients as depressed and 44 as nondepressed. Adolescents who reported depression also reported significantly more internal attributions for negative events and less internal attributions for positive events, evidenced a more external locus of control, and described themselves as significantly more hopeless than did the nondepressed adolescents. Hopelessness and internal attributions for negative events were the strongest predictors of depressive symptoms. In contrast to the findings of most studies using clinical populations of depressed children and adolescents, a maladaptive cognitive style and self-reported depression were highly, positively correlated.     

Reversal of performance deficits and perceptual deficits in learned helplessness and depression.

Tested therapeutic implications of the learned helplessness model of depression in 2 experiments with a total of 128 undergraduates. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory. Nondepressed Ss receiving inescapable noise and depressed/no-noise Ss later showed noise escape deficits in a shuttlebox and perceptions of response-reinforcement independence when compared with nondepressed/no-noise Ss. Experience with solvable discrimination problems reversed the escape deficits and perceptions of response-reinforcement independence associated with both inescapability and depression. Results support the learned helplessness model of depression, which claims (a) that uncontrollable events induce distorted perceptions of response-reinforcement independence in nondepressed people which cause performance deficits parallel to those found in naturally occurring depression, and (b) that experience with controllable events reverses the perceptions of response-reinforcement independence and the performance deficits associated with both helplessness and depression. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learned helplessness in children: A longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style.

Assessed the depressive symptoms, life events, and explanatory styles of 168 8–11 yr olds 5 times over a 1-yr period to test the prediction that the maladaptive explanatory style would be associated with higher levels of depression, lower school achievement, and higher incidences of helpless behaviors in the classroom. Ss completed the Children's Depression Inventory, the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire, and a life events questionnaire. Measures of school achievement (the California Achievement Tests) were obtained once during the year. Depressive symptoms and explanatory styles were found to be stable over the year. As predicted by the reformulated learned helplessness theory, explanatory style both correlated with concurrent levels of depression and school achievement and predicted later changes in depression during the year. Depression also predicted later explanatory styles. Implications for intervention with children with depressive symptoms or school achievement problems are discussed. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The helplessness–hopelessness theory and daily mood experience: An idiographic and cross-situational perspective.

The experience sampling method was used to examine the helplessness–hopelessness theory as a model of normal mood fluctuations. Ninety-one participants were signaled 5 times daily for a 1-week period to provide reports of negative events, specific cognitions, and anxiety and depression. Attributional and perception of control styles did not explain anxious or depressed moods, but they were predictive of the causal attributions and perceptions of control made across diverse environmental contexts. Furthermore, idiographic analyses demonstrated that specific causal attributions about negative events explained fluctuations in depressed mood within the flow of daily life. In contrast to the theory, perceptions of event controllability were not related to fluctuations in anxious mood or to the later formulation of causal attributions. Implications for understanding normal mood experience and the helplessness–hopelessness theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-blame, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion.

The causal impact of attributions and coping self-efficacy on adjustment to abortion was examined. 283 women were randomly assigned prior to their abortion to 1 of 3 counseling interventions: 1 designed to alter attributions for unwanted pregnancy (ATT-INT), 1 designed to raise coping expectations (EXP-INT), or a control (standard counseling) group. Depression, mood, anticipated consequences, and physical complaints were assessed postabortion. Ss in the ATT-INT or EXP-INT group were better adjusted immediately postabortion than women in the control group. The EXP-INT group was also less depressed than the ATT-INT group. Three individual difference factors were also related to better adjustment: high coping self-efficacy, low self-character blame, and low other-blame. Self-efficacy also predicted adjustment 3 wks postabortion. Implications for theories of adjustment to major life events, therapeutic interventions to assist coping with such events, and public policy on abortion are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The causality of causal attributions in depression: A cross-lagged panel correlational analysis.

The attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness model of depression proposes that causal attributions about negative outcomes play a causal role in reactive depression. This research tested this hypothesis by studying the causal role of attributions in depression in 180 college students. On 2 occasions separated by 1 mo, Ss were administered a battery of tests that included an attributional style questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. The attributional dimensions of internality, stability, and globality were correlated with depression; when the possible causal role of attributions was tested through the use of cross-lagged panel correlational analysis, the hypothesis that stability and globality attributions for bad outcomes might be causes of depression was supported. There was no support, however, for the hypothesis that internal attributions for bad outcomes are a cause of depression. Evidence was also found that unstable attributions for good outcomes may function as a cause of depression. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective study of postpartum depression: Prevalence, course, and predictive factors.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 94(2) of Journal of Abnormal Psychology (see record 2008-10964-001). Much of the data reported in Tables 4 and 5 are incorrect. Most of the errors are small and they do not affect the p values shown in the tables, with three exceptions which are provided in the erratum.] 99 women (mean age 26.5 yrs) were followed from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy until about 6 mo postpartum. Depression diagnostic and severity assessments were conducted during pregnancy and after delivery. Instruments included the Beck Depression Inventory and an interview adapted from the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia. Depression severity decreased steadily from the 2nd trimester until 9 wks postpartum. Approximately 9% of the Ss during pregnancy and 12% of the Ss during the postpartum period were diagnosed as having a major or minor depression. A model of depression was constructed to account for both postpartum depression symptomatology and the syndrome of postpartum depression. Predictor variables (e.g., prepartum depression symptomatology, obstetric risk factors) accounted for about 50% of the variance in depressive symptomatology. Predictor variables (e.g., depression history, stressful childcare events) accounted for about 30% of the variance in diagnostic status. Findings underscore the importance of studying changes in depression diagnostic status as well as changes in level of depressive symptomatology in prospective studies. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Longitudinal Examination of Causal Attributions and Depression Symptomatology in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: Examine longitudinal relationships between causal attributions and depression symptoms in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Study Design: Cross-lagged panel correlations tested the temporal precedence of attributions relative to depression symptoms over 1 year. Participants: Forty-two participants completed self-report instruments on 2 occasions. Main Outcome Measures: The Inventory to Diagnose Depression and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Results: Time 1 attributions predicted increased levels of depression symptoms at Time 2 after perceived pain and disability were controlled: Time 1 depression symptoms were unrelated to Time 2 attributions. Cross-lagged correlation comparisons revealed statistical dominance for attribution-depression relationships relative to depression-attribution relationships. Conclusions: Results support cognitive diathesis conceptualizations of depression and support cognitive-behavioral treatments for depression in RA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivational and performance deficits in interpersonal settings: The effect of attributional style.

Tested an attributional model of motivation and performance following failure. 63 college students were preselected on the basis of their attributional styles for interpersonal failures, as measured by the Attributional Style Assessment Test. Ss in the 2 preselected groups (character-style vs behavioral-style attributors) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 experimental manipulations of attributions for failure at an interpersonal persuasion task: (a) no manipulation, (b) ability/trait manipulation (which parallels the character-style), or (c) strategy/effort manipulation (which parallels the behavior style). Subsequently, Ss engaged in a blood drive task over the telephone, trying to persuade other students to donate blood. Success expectancies, motivation, and actual performance were assessed. As predicted, Ss who made strategy-/effort-type attributions, whether by experimental manipulation or by preselection, expected more success, expected more improvement with practice, displayed higher levels of motivation, and performed better at the task than did Ss who made ability-/trait-type attributions. Implications for the treatment of such clinical symptoms as loneliness and depression are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)