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 interpretations in counseling: Content versus discrepancy.

The content of attributional interpretations and their discrepancy from client attributions were manipulated to examine the respective importance of these 2 variables to the effectiveness of interpretation. 38 undergraduates with mild to moderate depression (as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory) and who exhibited either behavior or characterological styles on the Attributional Styles Questionnaire were given brief counseling that contained either behavioral or characterological interpretations. The matching of attributional styles with interpretation content constituted the discrepancy variable. Three male counselors administered all treatments. Results indicate that interpretation content was irrelevant to change in Ss' negative emotions, attributional styles, and problem-related attributions. Change on the stability dimension of Ss' attributional styles was partly a function of interpretation discrepancy. Ss' negative emotions improved in all conditions. Their attributional styles became less internal and less global in all conditions, but their problem-related attributions became more internal. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive patterns in symptomatic and remitted unipolar major depression.

Examined maladaptive thinking in 11 endogenous and 13 nonendogenous, unipolar, nonpsychotic depressed 22–70 yr old female patients when symptomatic (Time 1) and, later, when clinically remitted (Time 2). As a control, 17 nondepressed Ss were tested at 2 times, as were 7 unremitted depressed Ss. Ss were administered a battery of scales, including the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Symptomatic depressed Ss had more dysfunctional attitudes, depressive attributional biases, and negative automatic thoughts than did controls, whereas the 2 symptomatic depressed groups did not differ with regard to thinking patterns. With remission, negative automatic thoughts equaled normal control values, although biased attitudes and attributions continued to persist in both endogenous and nonendogenous remitted groups. Attributional but not attitudinal biases correlated with several measures of chronicity, which suggested that attributional biases either result from long-term depressions or lead to greater time spent in depressive episodes. (35 ref) (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)     

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)     

Attributional style and depression in rheumatoid arthritis: The moderating role of perceived illness control.

Examined the moderating influence of perceived daily illness control on the relationship between disease-unrelated causal attributions and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) depressive symptomatology in a sample of 58 patients (aged 25–75 yrs) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eight of the Ss met DSM-IV criteria for major depression. All Ss completed paper-and-pencil instruments measuring depression, attributional style, arthritis-specific helplessness, disease severity and pain and disability. As predicted, attribution?×? perceived control interactions contributed significant variance to depression, after controlling for disease variables and arthritis helplessness. Specifically, internal and global attributions for negative events were associated with increased levels of depression under conditions of decreased perceived illness control. The findings provide support for examining general attributional style in studies of depression in RA and for cognitive diathesis-stress conceptualizations of adjustment to chronic illness. Clinical implications of the results for cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches in RA are also discussed. (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)     

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)     

Attributional style in pathological gamblers in treatment.

Preliminary studies highlight the importance of depression and life trauma in a subset of pathological gamblers. This article presents data on the tendency of pathological gamblers to attribute the outcome of events to internal, stable and global causes, as postulated by the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression. There was a positive relation between measures of depression and the tendency to attribute negative events to internal, global and stable causes. Severity of gambling prior to treatment and attributional style both made significant contributions to the prediction of severity of gambling on a 6-month follow-up. Measures of depression did not have predictive value. The implications of these findings for future research with addicted patients are briefly 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)     

Attributions for positive life events predict recovery from depression among psychiatric inpatients: An investigation of the Needles and Abramson model of recovery from depression.

The authors investigated whether attributions for positive life events predict decreases in hopelessness and depressive symptoms among clinically depressed adults. Measures of attributional style, attributions for recent events, depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, hopelessness, and life events were administered to 52 depressed psychiatric inpatients treated with antidepressant medication; the measures were readministered 12 and 24 days later. Results indicated that (a) internal, stable, global attributions for recent positive events mediated a significant association between attributional style for positive life events and decreased hopelessness; (b) decreases in hopelessness mediated a significant association between internal, stable, global attributions for recent positive events and decreases in depressive symptom levels; and (c) depressotypic cognitions were not associated with decreases in either hopelessness or depressive symptom levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consistency of pupils' attributions regarding success and failure.

191 6th graders attending schools in 3 socioeconomic areas were asked to attribute to causes their success or failure on examinations administered in 3 subjects in the course of a trimester. The extent of consistency was measured between attributional patterns obtained from 2 tests in the same subject and between two tests in different subjects. Results show consistency in Ss' attributional patterns. It was found that consistency of attributional patterns was significantly greater when Ss received the same outcomes on the 2 tests (success or failure) than when different outcomes were received (success–failure or failure–success). (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional analysis as self-affirmation.

Conducted 2 experiments to examine whether the tendency to make more extreme attributions following control deprivation, observed by T. S. Pittman and N. L. Pittman (see record 1981-25822-001), stemmed from a motive to regain actual environmental control or to affirm an image of oneself as able to control (important outcomes). Study 1 varied control deprivation by exposing 78 undergraduates to either high-, low-, or no-helplessness training prior to measuring attributions. A 4th condition exposed Ss to low-helplessness training but allowed them to affirm a valued self-image (by completing a self-relevant value scale) just prior to the attribution measure. Replicating the findings of Pittman and Pittman, Ss made more extreme attributions and had worse moods in the high- and low-helplessness conditions than in the no-helplessness condition, but in the 4th condition the self-affirming value scale eliminated the effect of low-helplessness training on both attributions and mood. Study 2, using 32 undergraduates, showed that this effect occurred only when the value scale was central to Ss' self-concept. It is concluded that the motive for attributional analysis following control deprivation in this paradigm was to protect a positive self-image rather than to regain environmental control and that this motive can stimulate attributional analysis that is not related to the self or the provoking control threat and, thus, is not self-serving. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The attributional norm of internality and depressive sensitivity to social information.

Two experiments with 209 undergraduates examined the existence in an achievement-related context of a social norm favoring internal explanations for task performances. In Exp I, Ss' reactions to a male actor's high, moderate, or low self-attribution of causal responsibility for his negative performance outcome on an ostensibly standardized aptitude test were assessed. Results indicate that the actor was evaluated more positively to the degree that he accepted more personal responsibility for his performance. In Exp II, Ss were classified as depressed or nondepressed, based on their scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Ss' reactions to an actor's high or low self-attributions of causal responsibility for his poor performance on a test of analytical ability were assessed. On the basis of the notion that the chronic lack of control and resultant uncertainty, presumably characteristic of depressed persons, motivates attributional information processing, it was expected that depressed Ss would be more sensitive to the actor's violation of the norm of internality and would respond with more social disapproval than nondepressed Ss. Results are generally consistent with this reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the interpersonal implications of expressed attributions. (26 ref) (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 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)     

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)     

Attributional style and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

Examined the attributional styles of Types A (coronary-prone) and B (non-coronary-prone) individuals in 2 studies in which 62 undergraduates and 199 18–65 yr old county residents, classified on the Jenkins Activity Survey, completed an attributional style questionnaire. Past research suggests that Type A's exhibit greater performance deficits than Type B's following exposure to extended, salient uncontrollable stimuli. The reformulated learned-helplessness model suggests that individuals most prone to such performance deficits should exhibit an attributional style characterized by internal, stable, and global attributions for negative outcomes, but external, unstable, and specific attributions for positive outcomes. However, a self-esteem protection explanation of learned-helplessness findings predicts an opposite, self-serving attributional style. Results from both studies indicate that Type A's were more self-serving than Type B's in their attributions for positive and negative outcomes. (37 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)