Applicability of learned helplessness to depressed women undergoing assertion training

Abstract

Abstract The attributional formulations of the learned helplessness model of depression were tested with regard to the model's applicability to women and its implications for assertion training as a therapy for depression. Eighteen depressed housewives underwent 6 weeks of assertion training, participated in an attention control condition, or were part of a waiting list control condition. Both the assertion training and attention control groups showed a significant improvement in depression at post-test and at follow-ups scheduled 6 weeks after treatment and 6 months thereafter. There was a clear relationship between depression and attributional style: the greater the tendency toward attributing causes for negative outcomes to global, stable, and internal causes, the greater was the depression score. Although the assertion training and attention control groups did not show differences in severity of depression after treatment, the assertion training group became significantly more assertive as a result of...