| Abstract: | Tested the attributional models of depression proposed by L. Y. Abramson et al (see record 1979-00305-001), using 278 undergraduates who had recently experienced a stressful event and 51 55–79 yr old adults who sought treatment for problems with depression. Three questions were addressed: (a) the validity of the hypothesized independent and direction relation between each of the dimensions of internality, stability, controllability, intentionality, and globality and depression; (b) the causal relation between attributions and depression in a 2-mo prospective study; and (c) evaluation of the model on the 2 disparate samples. Ss were administered a battery of depression measures; students completed an attribution questionnaire, while adults completed a measure of life stress attributions. Causal modeling statistical procedures were applied to both the question of concurrent relations and causal relations between cognitions and depression. Results suggest minimal support for the attributional model: The dimensions were not each independently and directly associated with depression in the manner predicted, and the model that best fit the data was generally congruent for both the normal and clinical samples. In terms of direction of causality, the data were more consistent in indicating that depression causes cognitions than in indicating the reverse. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
