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Cited by 71Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychological Treatments and AssessmentsIdentity, Memory, and Therapy

Depression and attributional style: Interpretations of important personal events

Harvey, David M.·1981·Journal of Abnormal Psychology
DOI 10.1037/0021-843x.90.2.134
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Abstract

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 students would attribute negative life events to more controllable causes, compared with nondepressed students. A third prediction was that depressed students ' controllable causal attributions would be more closely related to independent judgments of the controllability of events than would the attributions of nondepressed students. These predictions were examined using a less structured methodology than previous studies. Forty-five depressed and 46 nondepressed female college students reported important personal events, provided untutored explanations of their causes, and rated the importance of particular causes of these events. Results confirmed predictions for the internal dimension (p <.01) and for the controllable dimension for negative events (p <.05) but not for the stable dimension. Results did not support the prediction that depressed students ' attributions to controllable causes would appear more similar to judges ' ratings of the controllability of events. The reformulated learned helplessness model of depression (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) predicts that depressionprone individuals characteristically attribute undesirable (negative) events to internal, stable, and global causes which results in lowered self-esteem and in helplessness. This attribution theory reformulation also implies (although not as an explicit prediction of the model) that depression-prone individuals tend to attribute desirable (positive) events to external, unstable, and specific causes. Four experimental studies have addressed these predictions by comparing the causal attributions of depressed and nondepressed students after induced success and failure experiences (Klein, Fencil-Morse, & Selig-This study was completed in partial fulfillment of requirements

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Authors
Harvey, D. M.
Corresponding author
Harvey, David M.
Venue
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1981-04
Volume
90
Issue
2
Pages
134-142
ISSN
  • 0021-843X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1846
DOI
10.1037/0021-843x.90.2.134
OpenAlex
W2052371794
Cited by
71
References
0
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1
FWCI
15.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Abnormal Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
Keywords
depression, attributional style, learned helplessness, causal attribution, personal events, controllability, internal attribution, negative life events, university students, self-esteem, helplessness
MeSH terms
Adult, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Internal-External Control, Life Change Events

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