Do Personality-Like Risk Factors for Bipolar and Unipolar Mood Disorder Predict Attributional Style?

Abstract

There is evidence that trait-like factors such as personality style may serve as risk factors for affective disorder. According to the Revised Hopelessness Theory, a specific attributional style for negative events is also a risk factor for unipolar depression and may be relevant for bipolar disorder as well, according to recent research. Furthermore, the equivalent attributional style for positive events may be a risk factor for mania. Until now, however, little was known about the associations between such vulnerability factors; therefore, this study investigates whether personality-like traits related to “hypomanic personality” and rigidity may also act as vulnerability factors for attributional style. Using a 2-year prospective design we found that, in young adults (n = 196), risk for bipolar disorder predicted more stable and global attributions for positive events and expectations of more positive consequences from such events. In contrast to our predictions, rigidity did not predict a depressogenic...