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)     

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)     

Attributional versus preattributional variables in self-esteem and depression: A comparison and test of learned helplessness theory.

Tested, in 2 samples of undergraduates (92 in Exp I and 55 in Exp II), predictions made according to the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness theory concerning the cognitive determinants of low self-esteem and depression. Real and hypothetical life events were used. Ss were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, a checklist of life events, and a self-esteem scale. As predicted, internal attributions for hypothetical success and failure were correlated with self-esteem, but there was an unexpected correlation with global attributions for negative outcomes. Two preattributional variables, consensus and consistency judgments, were also related to self-esteem and depression. In contrast to learned helplessness theory, a path analysis indicated that these variables were not attributionally mediated. Consensus judgment was as strong a predictor of depression as the number of recent distressing life events that Ss had experienced. Other evidence that links depression to perceived low consensus is described, and a possible etiological role for this variable is outlined. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal attributions and perinatal depression.

85 1st-time mothers (18–35 yrs old) were followed from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy through the 2nd mo after childbirth. Initial attributional style was assessed (Attributional Style Questionnaire; ASQ) as well as causal attributions for a range of naturally occurring stressful events. Ss were assessed for level of depression with the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression at 3 points. Pregnancy scores on the ASQ predicted level of postpartum depression among Ss who were not depressed during pregnancy. However, among Ss who were depressed during pregnancy, the ASQ was not a significant predictor of postpartum depression. Speed of recovery from postpartum depressive symptoms was significantly predicted by the ASQ. Other results indicate that the ASQ was not a good predictor of causal attributions for naturally occurring stressful events. Attributional style had a direct relationship to subsequent depression, rather than an indirect relationship mediated by causal attributions for actual stressful events. Unless findings can be attributed to problems in the measurement of attributions for actual events, modifications in the reformulated learned helplessness model may be indicated. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions modulate immunization against learned helplessness in humans.

Conducted 3 experiments to determine the effect of global and internal attributions on immunization against learned helplessness. Exp 1 replicated the helplessness effect and its immunization. This immunization effect was weakened in Ss with global internal attributions about negative events and strengthened in Ss with specific and external attributions. In Exp 2, previous attributional style did not produce any effect on either immunization or helplessness. However, instructions to induce global internal attributions produced an enhanced helplessness effect. In Exp 3, global internal attributions induced by instructions during uncontrollability, but not during controllability, produced significant differences in the immunization effect. Immunization against helplessness was a function of a previous controllable experience, and attributions represented a vulnerability factor that modulated the actual influence of previous experiences on new tasks. (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)     

Depressive attributional style.

143 undergraduates completed an attributional style scale designed by the authors, the short form of the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Results show that depressed Ss, compared to nondepressed Ss, attributed bad outcomes to internal, stable, and global causes, as measured by the attributional style scale. This attributional style was predicted by the reformulated helplessness model of depression. In addition, relative to nondepressed Ss, depressed Ss attributed good outcomes to external, unstable causes. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Attributional style in clinically depressed and conduct disordered adolescents.

We tested the reformulated learned helplessness theory of depression with adolescent inpatients (N?=?63) who were diagnosed by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) criteria as depressed, or conduct disordered, or both. Adolescents with major depression diagnoses differed from nondepressed adolescents with significantly lower attributional style scores for positive events. The study also evaluated the relation of self-reported depression, anxiety, and social maladjustment to attributional style. Subjects who reported more severe depression had a significantly lower composite score for internal, stable, and global attributions for positive events. The composite of internal, stable, and global attributions for negative events was not significantly related to either diagnosed or self-reported depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributions and expectations: A confluence of vulnerabilities in mild depression in a college student population.

The reformulated model of learned helplessness assumes that attributional style has its impact on depression in part through the intermediary effect of pessimistic or negative expectations about the occurrence of future outcomes. A possible logical next step in testing the model is to measure jointly attributions and expectations and to examine their combined (interactive) contributions. We used a short-term longitudinal design to examine whether attributional style works in combination with other factors, such as expectations, to predispose individuals to depression. Consistent with the initial theoretical analysis, the interaction of attributional style and expectations predicted depression on the Beck Depression Inventory 6 weeks later. We also found that attributional style predicted depression 6 weeks later in interaction with initial level of depression. These findings support our confluence hypothesis, which assumes that vulnerability factors can combine interactively and qualify the effects of attributional style. These interaction-effect findings have implications for currently popular cognitive theories of depression and for previous research on vulnerability to depression that has examined only the effects of single cognitive variables (such as attributional style) considered alone. (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)     

Attributional styles and life events in the classroom: Vulnerability and invulnerability to depressive mood reactions.

A core prediction of the reformulated model of learned helplessness and depression states that when confronted with the same negative life event, people who display a tendency to attribute negative outcomes to internal, stable, or global factors should be more likely to experience a depressive reaction than people who typically attribute negative outcomes to external, unstable, or specific factors. The present study tested that prediction with 227 undergraduates by determining whether the content of Ss' attributional styles at 1 point in time predicted the severity of their depressive response (Multiple Affect Adjective Check List) to receiving a low grade on an exam at a subsequent time. Consistent with the prediction, Ss with an internal or global attributional style for negative outcomes at Time 1 experienced a depressive response when confronted with a low grade; Ss with an external or specific attributional style were invulnerable to this response. In contrast to results for the internality and globality dimensions, Ss' scores along the stability attribution dimension were not correlated with the severity of their depressive response to the low grade. In the absence of a negative life event, Ss' generalized tendencies to make internal or global attributions for negative outcomes at Time 1 were not significantly correlated with their subsequent changes in depressive mood, although there was a nonsignificant positive correlation between severity of depressive response and the tendency to make global attributions for negative outcomes at Time l. (14 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)     

Depressive attributional style in psychiatric inpatients: Effects of reinforcement level and assessment procedure.

Examined the effect of contextual variation on depressive attributional style in 42 psychiatric inpatients divided into depressed (mean age 36.43 yrs) and control (mean age 30.52 yrs) groups on the basis of their responses to the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss received 20%, 50%, or 80% reinforcement on a task. Three measurement variables were evaluated: (a) when the attributions were produced (during vs after the task), (b) how the attributions were made (generating vs selecting influences), and (c) who provided the dimensional scores (Ss vs raters). The expected group differences on the attributional composite occurred only under the 20 and 50% reinforcement conditions. Group differences were demonstrated only when Ss made attributions after the task (when Ss selected attributions from a list). However, when the Ss generated their own influences after the task, group differences emerged only when they and not the raters provided the dimensional scores. Findings suggest that depressive attributional style is dependent on contextual factors and parameters of measurement. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and attributions: Factors responsible for inconsistent results in the published literature.

According to the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness, depressive symptoms are associated with an attributional style that points to internal and global causes for bad events involving the self. 61 tests of the attributional reformulation published in 6 journals (e.g., Cognitive Therapy and Research) since 1978 were analyzed to determine factors that might distinguish findings that corroborated the reformulation's predictions from those that did not. Use of a large sample and hypothetical events was correlated with support for the reformulation with respect to stable and global attributions. However, these characteristics were highly intercorrelated across studies, making it impossible to isolate their independent effects. None of the factors (e.g., nature of the sample, method of assessing depression) examined consistently distinguished supporting from nonsupporting studies with respect to internal attributions. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Helplessness and depression in rheumatoid arthritis.

Found that scores on a measure of helplessness mediated the relationship between severe, disabling rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and depression in 106 RA patients (aged 23–81 yrs). This association was independent of a previously demonstrated correlation between cognitive distortion and depression in RA patients. However, the association between disease severity and depression was mediated by Ss' views of their ability to control or cope with their disease. Both helplessness and cognitive distortion may be important factors in the development and treatment of depression among RA patients. (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)     

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.     

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)     

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)