An attempt to reverse performance deficits associated with depression and experimentally induced helplessness.

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that any effective treatment for reactive depression should also reverse performance deficits associated with experimentally induced helplessness, and vice versa. A study was conducted to test this prediction. Ss were 62 college students who were exposed to experimental manipulations designed to induce helplessness or who scored above a group mean on the Beck Depression Inventory. Depressed and helpless Ss were randomly assigned to 4 groups. The 2 treatment groups received either E. Velten's (1968) mood statements for the induction of elation or a set of simple anagrams to solve. The 2 remaining groups were exposed to no-treatment conditions. All Ss were tested for helplessness on a series of concept formation problems. Results fail to confirm the predictions of the learned helplessness model of depression. Although treatment was effective with helpless Ss, the performance of treated depressed Ss was not enhanced. Also, depressed Ss given anagrams performed more poorly than depressed Ss given mood statements. Several possible explanations for the findings are considered. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of real and recalled success on learned helplessness and depression.

The effects of recalling past successes on the deficits in learned helplessness and depression were examined and, for learned helplessness, compared with those of real success. Ss were 84 female, English university students who had been rated on the Beck Depression Inventory. Depressed Ss and nondepressed Ss receiving unsolvable problems showed deficits in anagram performance and some evidence of lowered mood compared with nondepressed Ss receiving no unsolvable problems. Experience with solvable letter substitution problems reversed anagram deficits and low mood associated with learned helplessness, replicating previous findings. Recalling successes on letter substitution problems had no effect on the anagram deficits in learned helplessness and depression and had an effect in improving mood only in learned helplessness. Real and recalled success both significantly modified attributions for failure in the learned helplessness condition. Results suggest real success does not have its therapeutic effects by modifying attributions for failure toward external factors. Some evidence of a facilitatory effect of depression on initial anagram performance was obtained. It is concluded that recall of past successes, while easier to arrange than real success experiences, may not be a powerful clinical procedure. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-devaluation and depressed mood.

E. Velten's (1968) mood induction procedure (VMIP) has been used in a variety of studies to induce depressed moods. Its effectiveness has been attributed to the self-devaluative nature of its statements, and it has been used as support for cognitive self-evaluation theories of depression. An alternative hypothesis is that suggestions of somatic states characteristic of depression, which are found in nearly half of the VMIP depression statements, account for the effectiveness of the procedure. 60 female college students were randomly assigned to 5 groups: VMIP depression, VMIP elation, VMIP neutral, somatic suggestion, and self-devaluation. The VMIP depression statements were divided into those that suggest somatic states characteristic of depression, (e.g., fatigue and exhaustion) and those that are self-devaluative, (e.g., statements of low self-worth) to form the somatic suggestion and self-devaluation conditions. Somatic suggestion Ss reported more depressed mood than neutral Ss. Somatic suggestion Ss also reported more depressed mood than self-devaluation Ss on several measures. Results support a somatic suggestion hypothesis and offer no support for self-devaluative interpretations of VMIP effects. This limits the support VMIP studies offer to cognitive self-evaluation theories of depression. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancies, mood, and performance of depressed and nondepressed psychiatric inpatients on chance and skill tasks.

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that, compared with nondepressed patients, depressed patients will demonstrate psychomotor deficits, provide lower subjective evaluations of their performance, and perceive reinforcement in skill tasks as more response independent. These predictions were tested in 32 depressed (mean age 35 yrs) and 32 nondepressed (mean age 38 yrs) psychiatric inpatients, who had been administered the Quick Test and the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss performed card- and peg-sorting tasks in which measures of performance, ratings of mood and expectancy of success, and subjective evaluations of performance were obtained under chance and skill reinforcement conditions. Although some support was obtained for the prediction that depressives provide lower evaluations of their performance than nondepressives, the other predictions were not supported. Comparisons between depressed and nondepressed schizophrenics indicate that the mood of depressed schizophrenics was especially sensitive to task outcome for both skill and chance conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and the perception of reinforcement.

Tested the prediction of the learned helplessness model of depression that depressed Ss tend to perceive reinforcement as more response-independent than do nondepressed Ss in skill tasks, but not in chance tasks. Changes in expectancies for success following reinforcement in chance and skill tasks were examined in 32 college students. The Rotter Internal-External Control Scale and Beck Depression Inventory were used to classify Ss into 4 groups: depressed high external, depressed low external, nondepressed high external, and nondepressed low external. The predictions were confirmed: nondepressed Ss showed greater expectancy changes than depressed Ss in skill, while the changes of depressed and nondepressed Ss were similar in chance. Externality had no significant effect on expectancy changes in chance or skill. Results indicate that depression entails a specific cognitive distortion of the consequences of skilled action. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy changes in depression and schizophrenia.

Does the learned helplessness model of depression apply to clinically depressed patients and is it specific to depression? Changes in expectancy following success and failure in skill and chance tasks were assessed for depressed nonschizophrenics (unipolar depressives), depressed schizophrenics, nondepressed schizophrenics, and normal controls (32 Ss, aged 18–50 yrs). Unipolar depressives showed smaller changes in expectancy of future success after failure in the skill task than did the controls and both schizophrenic groups. Depressed schizophrenics did not show smaller expectancy changes than nondepressed schizophrenics. The learned helplessness model has been tested primarily in populations with subclinical depression; the present results provide partial support for learned helplessness as a model of one type of severe clinical depression and suggest that learned helplessness is not a general feature of psychopathology. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and learned helplessness in man.

Demonstrated similarity of impairment in naturally occurring depression and laboratory-induced learned helplessness in 48 undergraduates. 3 groups each of depressed and nondepressed Ss were exposed to escapable, inescapable, or no noise. Then they were tested on a series of 20 patterned anagrams. Depressed-no-noise Ss were much poorer at solving individual anagrams and seeing the pattern than nondepressed-no-noise Ss. Inescapable noise produced parallel deficits in nondepressed Ss relative to escapable or no noise, but inescapable noise did not increase impairment in depressed Ss. Findings support the learned helplessness model of depression, which claims that a belief in independence between responding and reinforcement is central to the etiology, symptoms, and cure of reactive depression. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Induction of mood states and their effect on gaze behaviors.

The present study verified the relationship between affective states and visual behavior in nonpsychotics. 45 female undergraduates participated and entered an elated, depressed, or neutral state by means of E. Velten's (1968) mood induction procedure. Ss then conversed for 10 min with a confederate, at which time the Ss' returned eye contact was measured. Results indicate that (a) elated Ss engaged in more total eye contact and had longer but less frequent eye-contact gazes than neutrals, and (b) depressed Ss had less total eye contact and had fewer eye-contact gazes than Ss in a neutral affective state. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive correlates of teacher stress and depressive symptoms: Implications for attributional models of depression.

Conducted a test of the reformulated learned helplessness (attributional) model of depression (L. Y. Abramson et al, see record 1979-00305-001). Ss were 75 urban high school teachers who were experiencing high levels of teaching-related stress. Ss were administered Bruno's Teacher Stress Inventory, the Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression scale, and a specially developed attribution and cognition questionnaire. Results indicate that the teachers experienced a high degree of stress-related depressive symptomatology. The depressive behavior was significantly related to cognitions regarding the consequences of the stressful circumstances, but contrary to the reformulation of learned helplessness, depression was not related to causal attributions regarding these situations. Results suggest the need both for refinements in cognitive theories of depression to distinguish between enduring mood states and transient depressive symptoms arising universally in certain situations, and for the study of depression-related cognitions in naturalistic settings. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Interpersonal and impersonal problem-solving skills in mildly and clinically depressed university students.

Administered the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to 20 nondepressed and 20 depressed university students and 8 nondepressed and 10 depressed university students being treated at a university counseling service. Ss were then tested on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure (a measure of interpersonal problem-solving ability) and the anagram task used in the investigations of learned helplessness (a measure of impersonal problem-solving ability). All Ss were administered the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry version of the Vocabulary subscale of the WAIS. A significant negative correlation was found between depression and interpersonal problem-solving ability, while only anxiety was correlated with anagram performance. Differences between groups were found only in interpersonal problem-solving performance. Nondepressed Ss performed significantly better than the other 3 groups, while depressed counselees obtained the lowest scores on the interpersonal measures. No relationship was found between performance on the anagram task and performance on the Means–Ends Problem-Solving Procedure. Results are consistent with predictions generated by interpersonal theories of depression, but they raise questions about the validity of the learned helplessness model as an analog of clinical depression. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Universal versus personal helplessness in depression: Belief in uncontrollability or incompetence?

The learned helplessness model of depression predicts that depressed individuals believe outcomes are more response independent than do nondepressed individuals in a skill situation. The present study assessed whether depressives' cognitive distortions are specific to their belief about their own skilled action or are a result of a general belief in uncontrollability in the world. Changes in expectancies following success and failure in skill and chance tasks were examined in 32 depressed and 32 nondepressed college students who either performed themselves or observed a confederate perform a pair of tasks. In the skill task, depressed Ss showed significantly smaller changes in expectancy than nondepressed Ss when estimating the probability of their own success. In contrast, depressed and nondepressed Ss did not differ when estimating the probability of another person's success on the identical skill task. It is inferred that depressed individuals view themselves as helpless in a skilled situation but do not view the situation itself as uncontrollable. Results are discussed in terms of the reformulated learned helplessness model. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-schemas and risk for depression: A prospective study.

Two longitudinal experiments with 375 undergraduates investigated the role of depressive self-schemas in vulnerability to depression. Ss were divided into 5 groups hypothesized to be at differential risk for depression according to a schema model: depressed schematic, depressed nonschematic, nondepressed schematic, nondepressed nonschematic, and psychopathology control. In Exp I, Ss were followed regularly for 4 mo with self-report and clinical interview measures of depression (e.g., Beck Depression Inventory). There was no evidence of risk for depression associated with schema status apart from initial mood and no interaction of life stress events and schemas. In Exp II, links among self-schemas, information processing, and mood status were investigated. It was shown that depressive self-schemas did not exert an ongoing, active influence on everyday information processing; instead, current mood affected information processing. Remitted depressed Ss resembled nondepressed rather than depressed Ss. Findings support the distinction between concomitant and vulnerability schemas noted by N. Kuiper et al (in press) and help to clarify differences between cognitions that are symptoms of depression and those that may play a causal role under certain conditions. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–external locus of control on mood and performance.

Based on C. B. Wortman and J. W. Brehm's (1975) integration of reactance theory with M. E. Seligman's (1972, 1975) model of learned helplessness, the present study examined the effects of amount of helplessness training and internal–external locus of control on subsequent task performance and on self-ratings of mood. 90 undergraduates were divided into internal and external groups on the basis of their scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale and were then given either high, low, or no helplessness training on a series of concept-formation problems. After completing the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, all Ss worked on an anagram task presented as a 2nd experiment by a 2nd experimenter. Internals exhibited greater performance decrements and reported greater depression under high helplessness than did externals. In the low helplessness conditions, internals tended to perform better than control Ss, while externals tended to perform worse than control Ss; low helplessness Ss also reported the highest levels of hostility. The results are discussed within the context of Wortman and Brehm's integration of reactance and learned helplessness theories. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Induction of mood states and their effect on cognitive and social behaviors.

Three groups of 20 female undergraduates read E. A. Velten's elation, depression, and neutral self-referent mood statements and were then given the Stroop Color-Word Test, a digit symbol task, a time estimation task, a depression adjective checklist, a measure of writing speed, the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale, and a measure of graphic constriction-expansion. Findings suggest that affective states can be manipulated in the laboratory and that they have a significant impact on certain kinds of cognitive and performance behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dysfunctional attitudes and attribution style in healthy controls and patients with schizophrenia, psychotic depression, and nonpsychotic depression.

Compared the scores of 242 psychiatric inpatients with schizophrenia, psychotic depression, or nonpsychotic depression and 53 healthy controls on the Attribution Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS). Results provide mixed support for the cognitive and learned helplessness models of depression. Depressed Ss scored significantly higher than healthy controls on the DAS and ASQ, but there were no differences between depressed and schizophrenic Ss. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional style among depressed patients.

Male depressed unipolar patients (n?=?30) were more likely to attribute bad outcomes to internal, stable, and global causes than were nondepressed schizophrenics (n?=?15) and nondepressed medical patients (n?=?61). Also, the depressed patients were more evenhanded in their attributions for good and bad events than the other patients. These results support the existence, in clinical depression, of the depressive attributional style postulated by the reformulated learned helplessness model and indicate that it is not a general characteristic of psychopathology. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of learned helplessness and depression.

Investigated the effects of attributions for success on the alleviation of mood and performance deficits of 104 19–60 yr old clinically depressed inpatients. Ss were assigned to either an acutely depressed group or an improved depressed group that was exposed to a learned helplessness induction procedure. Ss received 80% positive feedback on a task allegedly measuring social intelligence. Concurrently, Ss were exposed to experimental manipulations designed to induce attributions of this experience to 1 of 4 types of causes (internal–general, internal–specific, external–general, external–specific). Following this task, Ss' mood, expectancies, and anagram performance were assessed. Results indicate that helpless and depressed Ss who received the internal attribution manipulations reported less depressed mood than Ss in the external attribution conditions. Similarly, Ss in the general attribution conditions performed better and reported higher expectancies for success on the anagrams than Ss in the specific attribution conditions. Results are supportive of an attribution theory model of learned helplessness and depression. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

Examined the relation between coping and depression in 38 women and 12 men (aged 21–58 yrs) recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). A semistructured interview was used to assess how Ss coped with the onset of disabling illness, and to assess depressive symptomatology. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III-Revised (DSM-III-R) criteria, 18 Ss were diagnosed with major depression, 11 Ss were diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood, and 21 Ss did not satisfy the criteria for any affective disorder. Interview results indicate that nondepressed Ss were more likely to use present focus and avoidance/denial strategies to deal with illness onset than Ss with major depression or adjustment disorder. Discussion addresses why these strategies may be an adaptive means of dealing with the onset of MS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Activity valence as a function of mood change.

Investigated variation of activity evaluations as a function of affective change. 32 depressed and 36 nondepressed college students were exposed to 1 of 3 mood induction conditions, including depressive, elated, or neutral statements. Additionally, each S rated several activities for degree of pleasantness before and after mood manipulations. Affect-induction procedures were successful in changing or intensifying characteristic mood. For both groups, the induction of negative affect significantly decreased the enjoyableness attributed to activities, the induction of positive affect significantly elevated activity evaluations, and a neutral induction did not significantly change activity ratings. Contrary to predictions, depressed and nondepressed Ss did not differ in their initial evaluations of activities, indicating that they may approach activities with similar expectations of reinforcement. Implication for P. M. Lewinsohn's (1974, 1975) model of depression are discussed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)