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)     

Positive life events, attributional style, and hopefulness: Testing a model of recovery from depression.

A model of a recovery process from depression that is compatible with the hopelessness theory of depressive onset is proposed. This model predicts that depressives who have an enhancing attributional style for positive events (i.e., make global, stable attributions for such events) will be more likely to regain hopefulness and, thereby, recover from depression, when positive events occur. This prediction was tested by following a group of depressed college students longitudinally for 6 weeks. Although neither positive events alone nor attributional style alone predicted reduction in hopelessness, depressives who both showed the enhancing attributional style for positive events and experienced more positive events showed dramatic reductions in hopelessness which were accompanied by remission of depressive symptoms. Thus, attributional style for positive events may be a factor that enables some depressives to recover when positive events occur in their lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Construct of attributional style in depression and marital distress.

Although important theoretically, consistency in attribution responses or attributional style has rarely been investigated empirically. The responses of 150 couples were used to examine whether consistency of attribution responses within attribution dimensions and consistency in the pattern of responses across attribution dimensions were associated with adaptational outcomes. Replicating previous findings, mean attribution scores correlated with depression and with marital distress. Consistency of attribution responses was unrelated to either adaptational outcome, whereas (1) theoretically derived pessimistic and optimistic attribution patterns were related to depression scores and (2) benign and nonbenign marital attribution patterns were related to marital satisfaction scores. The implications of these findings for the level at which attributional style is best conceptualized are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative attributional style in seasonal and nonseasonal depression

OBJECTIVE: There is a substantial relationship between dysfunctional cognitions and the clinical course of major depression. This study examined whether this association extends to patients with seasonal affective disorder. METHOD: A revised version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire was used to assess negative attributional style and predict response to treatment in a group of depressed outpatients, 26 with seasonal depression and 30 with nonseasonal, unipolar major depression. RESULTS: Pretreatment scores on negative attributional style did not differ between the patients with seasonal affective disorder and those with nonseasonal depression. Negative attributional style predicted poor response to pharmacotherapy in the nonseasonal depression group but did not predict response to light therapy in the group with seasonal affective disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Dysfunctional cognitions may play a lesser role in seasonal affective disorder than in nonseasonal depression.     

Learned helplessness, attributional style, and depression in epilepsy. Bozeman Epilepsy Surgery Consortium

PURPOSE: We wished to examine the relevance of the theory of learned helplessness in general, and attributional style in particular, to the understanding of depression among patients with epilepsy. METHODS: Patients with lateralized temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) (right = 73, left = 70) were administered two self-report depression inventories [Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale (CES-D)]. Depression scores were examined in relation to a key component of the revised theory of learned helplessness (attributional style) using the Optimism/Pessimism Scale. RESULTS: Attributional style was significantly associated with increased self-reported depression and remained significant when the effects of several confounding variables were controlled [age, age at onset, laterality of TLE, sex, and method variance]. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the concept of learned helplessness in general, and attributional style in particular, are related to the genesis of depression in epilepsy. Because they are known to be related to depression in the general population, and because specific techniques for intervention and prevention are available, greater consideration of learned helplessness and attributional style in the genesis of depression in epilepsy may be worthwhile.     

Dependency, self-criticism, and depressive attributional style.

Dependency and self-criticism have been proposed as independent factors in depression. Investigated whether depressive individuals characterized by dependency and self-criticism, respectively, differ with regard to internality of causal attributions for negative events. Sixty psychiatric outpatients completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, the semantic differential, and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Dependency and self-criticism correlated positively with internality and with each other (p     

A test of the cognitive diathesis-stress model of depression in children: Academic stressors, attributional style, perceived competence, and control.

The cognitive diathesis–stress model of depression was tested in a sample of 439 children in grades 5 and 6. Attributional style and cognitions about academic competence and control over achievement were assessed before the occurrence of a potentially stressful event—receiving unacceptable grades on a report card. Depressive symptoms were assessed 1 week before the event, the morning after, and 5 days later. Replicating G. I. Metalsky, L. J. Halberstadt, and L. Y. Abramson (1987), stressor level and negative cognitions predicted depressive symptoms the morning after the event, controlling for initial symptom levels. Depressive symptoms 5 days later were predicted by the interactions of negative cognitions with stressors, supporting a cognitive diathesis–stress model. Students who reported a negative explanatory style or lack of academic control and competence expressed more distress after receiving unacceptable grades than did students without such cognitions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression, self-esteem, and the absence of self-protective attributional biases.

Previous research has demonstrated a relation between depression and attributional style. In the present study we evaluated the extent to which self-esteem may be an important determinant of attributional style. Subjects completed measures of self-esteem, depression, and anxiety and responded to the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Maximum R–2 analyses revealed that for significant one-variable and multivariable regression models, self-esteem accounted for the variation in attributional style on the majority of outcome measures. Depression and anxiety added little beyond the contribution of self-esteem. These findings were consistent for both positive and negative events. In addition, self-esteem accounted for variation in attributional evenhandedness. Results are discussed in terms of the role of self-esteem maintenance in attributional style. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a team attributional style questionnaire.

The purpose of the study was to develop a psychometrically sound team attributional style questionnaire. A four-phase questionnaire development protocol was employed. In the first phase, Rees, Ingledew, and Hardy's (2005) four-dimension attribution model (i.e., controllability, stability, globality, and universality) was adopted to guide item generation. Phase two consisted of the development of the questionnaire and the assessment of the content validity of the items. In phase three, the reliability and validity of the newly developed questionnaire was assessed using a multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 240 athletes. The results indicated an acceptable fit between the four-factor model and data. Phase four assessed the criterion validity of the measure using the partial least squares (PLS) structural modeling technique. A sample of 198 athletes completed the new questionnaire and the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ; Carron, Widmeyer, & Brawley, 1985). The four-factor attributional style model accounted for 19% of the variation for Group Integration–Task cohesion and 15% of the variance for Individual Attractions to Group–Task cohesion. Issues related to assessing team attributional style are discussed and future research directions are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of disconfirmed expectancies in the instigation of attributional processing.

Tested the hypothesis that individuals engage in more thorough attributional processing for unexpected events than they do for expected events. 51 undergraduates observed the experimenter asking a confederate either a small or large favor. The small request led to an expectancy of compliance; the large request led to expectancy of refusal. The confederate then either did or did not comply with the request, thus either confirming or disconfirming Ss' expectancies. Ss were than allowed to look at any 5 of the confederates' responses to a 10-item questionnaire that the confederate had supposedly filled out earlier. Five of the items on the questionnaire were relevant to helping, and 5 were of general interest. As predicted, Ss chose more helping-relevant items when their expectancies had been disconfirmed. Implications for attributions for the behavior of stereotyped out-group members are discussed. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biases resulting from the use of indexes: An application to attributional style and depression.

The use of arbitrary indexes, including the commonly used equal-weight index, leads to biases in many studies. The appropriate index depends on the research question (dependent variable) and the population, so no single index is correct for all studies. If an incorrect index is used, tests of the relation between the construct measured by the index and a dependent variable are biased. We present three tests for bias and show how an unbiased index can be calculated by using a multiple regression. Using data from a study of attributional style and depression in psychiatric inpatients, we found that the widely used equal-weight indexes of attributional style produce large (up to 112%) biases in the estimated coefficients. Similarly, the use of equal-weight indexes biases the hypothesis tests. Finally, contrary to Wainer's (1976) contention that the inappropriate use of equal-weight indexes does not greatly reduce the explanatory power of the estimating equation, we found that the use of an index lowers the R–2 33%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style and attributional patterns among married couples.

Explored whether couples develop an attributional style in explaining marital behavior. Results demonstrate that spouses vary greatly in the extent to which they develop an attributional style in this area. Development of an attributional style is correlated with marital distress. Investigators have assumed that simultaneous attributional ratings across several attributional dimensions best characterize the attributions that spouses make for marital events. Yet almost all studies to date have considered each attributional dimension separately. The current investigation explored whether meaningful attributional patterns across dimensions were discernible for marital events. Findings indicate that such patterns do exist and are psychologically interpretable, and support the hypothesis that distressed spouses tend to maximize negative partner behaviors while minimizing positive partner behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between self-esteem and response style.

Response preferences of 30 high, 30 middle, and 30 low self-esteem undergraduate Ss on the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) were analyzed to examine relationships between sex, self-esteem, and response style. Based on discriminant analyses, significant results indicated that like and dislike preferences discriminated between self-esteem groups but not between sex groups. Ss of high and middle self-esteem groups responded more often with like preferences, while Ss of the low self-esteem group responded more often with dislike preferences across all sections of the SCII. Inspection of the Your Characteristics section revealed that high and middle self-esteem Ss attributed strengths to themselves more frequently than did low self-esteem Ss. Two-way ANOVAs of Ss' profile scores revealed significant self-esteem effects but not significant sex and interaction effects. Compared with test profiles of low self-esteem Ss, test profiles of high and middle self-esteem Ss exhibited greater differentiation and provided more helpful information regarding particular interests and occupational areas for further vocational exploration. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of self-esteem, hypothetical explanations, and verbalization of expectancies on future performance.

A hypothetical explanation task was used to make success- or failure-related cognitions differentially available for 60 high self-esteem (HSE) and 60 low self-esteem (LSE) undergraduates. Ss wrote an explanation for either a hypothetical failure or success, or they wrote no explanation. Half of the Ss in each condition stated performance expectancies. The effects of these variables on subsequent performance were examined. Success explanations increased the performance of both HSE and LSE Ss, whereas failure explanations only decreased the performance of LSE Ss. A content analysis revealed that the content of failure explanations, but not success explanations, was related to self-esteem and subsequent performance. These effects were more pronounced for Ss who stated expectancies, and expectancies were more highly correlated with performance in the explanation conditions than in the no-explanation control condition. Results are discussed in terms of current self-esteem theory and the cognitive processes associated with generating causal scenarios for success and failure, expectations, and performance. (57 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between aggressive attributional style and violence by psychiatric patients.

The authors propose a new theoretical construct for understanding the risk of violent behavior by psychiatric patients: the aggressive attributional style. They propose that a cognitive style characterized by external hostile attributions increases the risk of violence by mentally ill persons. To evaluate this hypothesis, they administered several self-report measures relevant to the aggressive cognitive style, as well as measures of violent behavior in the community, to 110 psychiatric inpatients. Higher scores on several indicators of the aggressive attributional style were associated with violence. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that the relationship between attributional style and violence held up when demographic and diagnostic characteristics and impulsiveness were controlled. The authors discuss implications for development of cognitive interventions to reduce violence risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 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)     

Emergence of attributional style and its relation to depressive symptoms.

The development of depressive attributional style (AS) and its role as a cognitive diathesis for depression were examined in children and adolescents (Grades 2-9). In a 4-wave longitudinal study of 3 overlapping age cohorts, AS, negative life events, and depressive symptoms were evaluated every 12 months. Consistency of children's attributions across situations was moderately high at all ages. The cross-sectional structure of AS changed with age, as stability became a more salient aspect of AS than internality and globality. The structure of AS also changed, becoming more traitlike as children grew older. In longitudinal analyses, evidence of a Cognitive Diathesis × Stress interaction did not emerge until Grades 8 and 9, suggesting that AS may not serve as a diathesis for depression at younger ages. Results suggest that attributional models of depression may require modification before they are applied across developmental levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Persistence following failure: The interactive role of self-awareness and the attributional basis for negative expectancies.

C. S. Carver et al (see record 1981-01305-001), in support of their cybernetic model, have shown that under conditions of high self-awareness, lower expectations resulted in less persistence. However, A. Frankel and M. L. Snyder (see record 1980-08892-001), in support of their egotism model, have shown that manipulations that presumably created lower expectations resulted in improved performance. The present authors investigated the suggestion that negative expectations may decrease performance when expected failure is attributed to the self and may increase performance when expected failure is attributed to the environment. The attributional basis of 57 undergraduates' negative expectancies and their level of self-awareness were manipulated. Results show that under high self-awareness, persistence and interest in the task were greater when expectations were externally based than when expectations were internally based; under low self-awareness, the 2 conditions did not differ. The role of attributional factors in Carver's model and of self-awareness in Snyder's formulation are discussed. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of an attributional style questionnaire for adolescents.

We describe the development and psychometric characteristics of a new version of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Seligman, Abramson, Semmell, & Von Baeyer, 1979)—a version called the Attributional Style Questionnaire for Adolescents (ASQ-A)—using 3 samples (Ns = 547, 438, and 240) of Spanish secondary school students. In Study 1, the initial pool of 87 items was reduced to 54. Study 2 further analyzed the 54 scale items and revealed that the Internality, Stability, and Globality subscale scores had good reliability, good factorial construct validity, and satisfactory associations with maladaptive mood ratings. In Study 3, the regression analyses showed good and specific predictive validities of ASQ-A subscales for the attributions that the adolescents made about a particular real-life stressful situation. Study 4 showed that over an 8-month period the changes in the Stability and Globality subscales depended on the intensity of stressful life events experienced in this period. Overall, the studies revealed that the new ASQ-A served as an appropriate instrument to assess attributional style in adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)