Depressogenic Attributional Style Research Articles

The Relationship Between Self/Value Discrepancies and Anxiety: The Mediation Effect of Depressogenic Attributional Style

The Relationship Between Self/Value Discrepancies and Anxiety: The Mediation Effect of Depressogenic Attributional Style

How employees with a depressogenic attributional style respond to negative workplace gossip: Evidence based on a survey and a scenario experiment

Depressogenic attributional style is the general tendency to attribute and infer the causes, consequences, and implications of stressful events in a negative way. Drawing on uncertainty reduction theory, this research examines how employees with a depressogenic attributional style are likely to react to negative workplace gossip. A moderated mediation model was proposed and tested by two online studies. Ordinary least squares regressions were performed. The results of a two-wave survey (N = 460) and a scenario experiment (intervention group versus control group; N = 203) reveal that negative workplace gossip induces employees' fear of negative evaluation, leading to more feedback-seeking behavior. In addition, this indirect relationship is more salient for employees with a depressogenic attributional style. The findings suggest that employees with a depressogenic attributional style tend to attain and maintain self-awareness and interpersonal acumen upon experiencing negative workplace gossip. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Depressogenic Attributional Style and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese University Students: The Role of Rumination and Distraction

The objective of the current study was to test the hypothesis that rumination and distraction mediate the relationship between depressogenic attributional style and depressive symptoms. 1017 university students recruited from two universities (90.0% Han and 10.0% ethnic minority) in China, completed questionnaires that measured depressogenic attributional style (Cognitive Style Questionnaire), depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) and rumination and distraction (Response Styles Questionnaire). Direct effects and the mediation model were evaluated via both linear regression analyses and Sobel tests. The rumination subscale of the RSQ was significantly positively correlated with the CESD and subscales of CSQ. However, the distraction subscale of the RSQ was significantly negatively correlated with the CESD and all subscales of the CSQ, except for the subscale of self. Higher levels of depressogenic attributional styles were associated with higher levels of rumination response style. In contrast, lower levels of CSQ-cause, CSQ-consequences, and CSQ-total were associated with higher levels of distraction response style. Higher levels of rumination response style were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. However, higher levels of distraction response style were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. The obtained results of Sobel tests confirmed that rumination partly mediated the relationship between depressogenic attributional style and depressive symptoms. The present results suggest that rumination but not distraction may mediate the relationship between depressogenic attributional style and depressive symptoms; additionally, rumination contributes to the negative outcomes of depressive symptoms.

The Role of Negative Affect in the Assessment of Quality of Life among Women with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to determine the impact of negative affect (defined in terms of lack of optimism, depressogenic attributional style, and hopelessness depression) on the quality of life of women with type 1 diabetes mellitus.MethodsParticipants (n=177) completed either an online or paper questionnaire made available to members of Australian diabetes support groups. Measures of optimism, attributional style, hopelessness depression, disease-specific data, and diabetes-related quality of life were sought. Bivariate correlations informed the construction of a structural equation model.ResultsParticipants were 36.3±11.3 years old, with a disease duration of 18.4±11.2 years. Age and recent glycosylated hemoglobin readings were significant contextual variables in the model. All bivariate associations involving the components of negative affect were as hypothesized. That is, poorer quality of life was associated with a greater depressogenic attributional style, higher hopelessness depression, and lower optimism. The structural equation model demonstrated significant direct effects of depressogenic attributional style and hopelessness depression on quality of life, while (lack of) optimism contributed to quality of life indirectly by way of these variables.ConclusionThe recognition of negative affect presentations among patients, and an understanding of its relevance to diabetes-related quality of life, is a valuable tool for the practitioner.

What mediates the link between childhood maltreatment and depression? The role of emotion dysregulation, attachment, and attributional style

BackgroundChildhood maltreatment (CM) has been shown to be related to a severe and/or chronic course of depression. This study investigated which psychological processes mediate this relationship.MethodA large sample of acute or recovered depressed individuals (N=340) participated in an online survey assessing characteristics of depression, trauma exposure, and potential mediators (emotion regulation difficulties, attributional style, and attachment).ResultsThe experience of CM was related to more severe depression and more depressive episodes. In multiple mediation models, emotion dysregulation, a depressogenic attributional style, and avoidance in close relationships conjointly mediated the relationship between CM and depression severity as well as number of depressive episodes. However, a significant direct path between CM and depression characteristics remained. Exploratory analyses suggested that posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity was an important additional mediator in our sample.ConclusionsOur findings provide preliminary evidence for psychological mediators between CM and depression that may be promising targets for interventions tailored for the treatment of depression in this subgroup.Highlights of the articleChildhood maltreatment (CM) is related to more severe depression. The study investigates how this relationship can be explained.CM was related to difficulties in emotion regulation, relationships and thinking style, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.Statistical analyses showed that these four variables were also able to (partly) explain how CM is related to more severe depression.Treatment for depression in individuals who have experienced CM may need to directly target these variables.

‘Weakest Link’ as a Cognitive Vulnerability Within the Hopelessness Theory of Depression in Chinese University Students

The current study tested the cognitive vulnerability-stress component of hopelessness theory using a 'weakest link' approach (e.g. an individual is as cognitively vulnerable to depression as his or her most depressogenic attributional style makes him or her) in a sample of Chinese university students. Participants included 520 students in Changsha. During an initial assessment, participants completed measures assessing weakest link, depressive symptoms and occurrence of negative events once a month for 6 months. Results from hierarchical linear modelling analyses showed that higher levels of weakest link scores were associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms following the occurrence of negative events. Higher weakest link level was associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms over time. These results provide support for the applicability of the 'weakest link' approach to the hopelessness theory to Chinese university students.

Identifying Cognitive and Interpersonal Predictors of Adolescent Depression

Emerging research has begun to examine cognitive and interpersonal predictors of stress and subsequent depression in adolescents. This research is critical as cognitive and interpersonal vulnerability factors likely shape expectations, perspectives, and interpretations of a given situation prior to the onset of a stressor. In the current study, adolescents (n = 157; boys=64, girls=93), ages 12 to 18, participated in a 6-month, multi-wave longitudinal study examining the impact of negative cognitive style, self-criticism, and dependency on stress and depression. Results of time-lagged, idiographic multilevel analyses indicate that depressogenic attributional styles (i.e., composite score and weakest link approach) and self-criticism predict dependent interpersonal, but not noninterpersonal stress. Moreover, the occurrence of stress mediates the relationship between cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms over time. At the same time, self-criticism predicts above and beyond depressogenic attributional styles (i.e., composite and weakest link approach). In contrast to our hypotheses, dependency does not contribute to the occurrence of stress, and additionally, no gender differences emerge. Taken together, the findings suggest that self-criticism may be a particularly damaging vulnerability factor in adolescence, and moreover, it may warrant greater attention in the context of psychotherapeutic interventions.

The Depressive Attributions Questionnaire (DAQ): Development of a Short Self-Report Measure of Depressogenic Attributions.

A depressogenic attributional style, i.e., internal, stable and global causal interpretations of negative events, is a stable vulnerability factor for depression. Current measures of pessimistic attributional style can be time-consuming to complete, and some are designed for specific use with student populations. We developed and validated a new short questionnaire suitable for the measurement of depressogenic attributions in clinical settings, the Depressive Attributions Questionnaire (DAQ). The 16-item DAQ, and measures of depression and related cognitive concepts were completed by three samples of depressed patients and matched controls, or depressed and non-depressed participants who had been exposed to a recent uncontrollable stressful life event (total N = 375). The DAQ had high (i) internal reliability, (ii) test-retest reliability, (iii) convergent, discriminant and construct validity. It predicted a diagnosis of major depression at 6 months after an uncontrollable stressor, over and above what could be predicted from initial depression severity. Depressed patients rated the scale as acceptable. The DAQ may be a useful short measure of depressogenic attributions, which is easy to administer, and predicts concurrent and future depression. It has possible applications as a screening measure for risk of depression, or as a treatment process measure.

An examination of the association between the 5-HTT promoter region polymorphism and depressogenic attributional styles in childhood

Although a vast literature examining the role of attributional styles in depression has accumulated, the origins of such cognitions remain poorly understood. Investigators are increasingly interested in whether cognitive vulnerability to depression is linked to genetic variation. As a preliminary test of this hypothesis, we examined whether the serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) was associated with attributional styles in children. Thirty-eight children completed a self-report measure of attributional styles, the Child Attributional Style Questionnaire-Revised (CASQ-R). Children were also genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism, including the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs25531 in the long allele of the 5-HTTLPR. The short alleles of the 5-HTTLPR and their putative functional equivalents were associated with increased levels of depressogenic attributions for negative events, as measured by the CASQ-R, lending support to the role of 5-HTTLPR polymorphisms in cognitive vulnerability to depression.

Hopelessness Depression in Children: An Examination of the Symptom Component of the Hopelessness Theory

The goal of the current study was to test the symptom component of the hopelessness theory of depression in a sample of 39 children between the ages of seven and 13 currently exhibiting clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Children were categorized into subgroups on the basis of whether or not they (1) possessed a depressogenic attributional style and (2) experienced a negative event prior to the onset of their depressive symptoms. Although children with and without a vulnerability-stress match did not differ in terms of either overall symptom severity or level of non-hopelessness depression symptoms, children with a vulnerability-stress match exhibited higher levels of both hopelessness and hopelessness depression symptoms. In addition, although children in both groups were equally likely to receive a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, minor depressive disorder, dysthymia, and adjustment disorder with depressed mood, children with a vulnerability-stress match were more likely than children without a vulnerability-stress match to receive a diagnosis of hopelessness depression based on criteria set forth by Alloy et al. [J Abnormal Psychol 109:403–418, 2000]. Last, hopelessness depression symptoms exhibited a significantly greater association with hopelessness than did non-hopelessness depression symptoms.

Predictive Validity of the Children’s Attributional Styles Questionnaire: Linkages with Reactions to an In Vivo Peer Evaluation Manipulation

The present study examined the predictive validity of the Children’s Attributional Styles Questionnaire (CASQ) by investigating associations between children’s attributional style and their cognitive appraisals of an in vivo peer evaluation manipulation. Participants (n = 92), ages 10–13, played a computer contest based on the television show Survivor and were randomized to either a peer rejection (i.e., receiving the lowest total ‘likeability’ score from a group of peer-evaluators), a peer success (i.e., receiving the highest score), or a neutral peer feedback condition. Children reporting a more depressogenic attributional style displayed more negative cognitive appraisals of failure feedback. However, no linkage was found between children’s enhancing attributional style and their appraisal of success feedback. These findings provide partial support for the predictive validity of the CASQ.

Links Between Antisocial Behavior and Depressed Mood: The Role of Life Events and Attributional Style

Comorbidity between antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence is widely recognized. This paper examines whether links with depressed mood differ among three subtypes of antisocial behavior: oppositionality, physical aggression and delinquency. In addition we examine two possible contributors to these links: negative life events that are dependent upon the individual's actions and depressogenic attributional style. Data are drawn from the G1219 large-scale community twin and sibling sample, and include 2409 questionnaire responses from youths aged between 13 and 19 living in the United Kingdom. Depressed mood was independently associated with both oppositionality and delinquency, but not with physical aggression. Dependent negative life events were strongly implicated in the association between delinquency and depressed mood, whereas depressogenic attributional style was implicated in the associations of both oppositionality and delinquency with depressed mood. Oppositionality remained a significant predictor of depressed mood after accounting for attributional style and life events whereas delinquency did not. The pattern of associations was largely similar in boys and girls. We discuss these results in terms of developmental models of the links between antisocial behavior and depressed mood.

Relations of Parenting and Negative Life Events to Cognitive Diatheses for Depression in Children

In a sample of 299 children (grades 2, 4, and 6), we examined parenting and negative life events as predictors of depressive cognitions, specifically low self-perceived competence, depressive cognitive schemas, and depressogenic attributional style. We also examined developmental trends in these relations. Children completed measures of parenting, negative life events, and depressive cognitions. Parents also completed measures of parenting and negative life events. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative parenting and negative life events corresponded with higher levels of depressive cognitions, whereas positive parenting corresponded with lower levels of depressive cognitions. The relations between negative parenting and negative automatic thoughts were stronger for older children. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Emerging from the CAVE: Attributional Style and the Narrative Study of Identity in Midlife Adults

It has been widely documented that individuals who explain negative life events with a depressogenic attributional style (stable, global attributions) tend to have increased rates of depression and other poor outcomes (e.g., Sweeny, Anderson, & Bailey, 1986). The Content Analysis of Verbatim Explanations (CAVE) is a method of assessing attributional style in spontaneously-generated causal attributions appearing in accounts of real events (Peterson, Schulman, Castellon, & Seligman, 1992). Seventy life story interviews obtained from a diverse community sample of midlife adults were coded for attributional style with the CAVE technique and also for the theme of contamination (scenes in which good events turn to bad outcomes, McAdams, Reynolds, Lewis, Patten, & Bowman, 2001). While depressogenic attributional style and contamination sequences were unrelated to each other, both were shown to independently predict self-reported depression and low life satisfaction. In addition, while the observed relationships between depressogenic attributional style and these self-report variables were no longer significant after controlling for neuroticism, a similar pattern was not observed for contamination sequences. This study forges possible connections between cognitive theories of depression and the narrative study of adult identity.

Peer Contagion of Depressogenic Attributional Styles Among Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

This study examined longitudinal associations between adolescents' and their friend's depressive symptoms and depressogenic attributional style. Participants included 398 adolescents in grades six through eight at the outset of the study. Adolescents completed peer nominations to identify reciprocated and unreciprocated best friendships as well as measures of depressive symptoms and depressogenic attributional style at an initial time point, and again 11 months later. Results revealed that best friends' reported level of depressive symptoms was prospectively associated with adolescents' own depressive symptoms and with adolescents' depressogenic attributional style. Moderator effects suggested that friends' attributional styles were prospectively associated with adolescents' own attributional styles for those involved in reciprocated friendships. Lastly, findings offered preliminary support for adolescents' Time 2 depressive symptoms as a mediator of the association between friends' depressive symptoms and adolescents' attributional style. Findings have important implications for cognitive and interpersonal models of adolescent depression, as well as the study of peer contagion effects.

Hostile attributions in incarcerated adult male offenders: An exploration of diverse pathways

Hostile attributions were examined in 150 incarcerated males to test the possibility that there are two pathways associated with hostile attributions: one related to psychopathy as assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised [PCL-R; Hare, 1991] and one related to depressogenic attributional style, as assessed using the Inferential Styles Questionnaire [ISQ; Rose et al., 1994]. Ten hypothetical vignettes were used to assess attributions of intent. Both PCL-R and ISQ scores were significant predictors of hostile attributions. Further, the two processes appeared to relate differentially to the race of the participants, such that an ISQ-hostile attribution association was stronger among African American participants than among Caucasian participants. Contrary to prediction, hostile attributions did not mediate associations between personality and violent crime. Aggr. Behav. 000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Cognitive moderators of the longitudinal association between peer rejection and adolescent depressive symptoms.

This longitudinal study examined peer rejection as a predictor of adolescent depressive symptoms during the critical developmental period associated with substantial increases in the prevalence of girls' depression. In a sample of 158 adolescents aged 15-17 years, a peer nomination, sociometric assessment was conducted to examine adolescents' peer status at an initial time point, along with self-report measures of depressive symptoms, depressogenic attributions, and peer importance. Adolescents completed a second measure of depressive symptoms 17 months later. Results were consistent with integrated cognitive vulnerability-stress and cognitive dissonance models, particularly for girls. Specifically, peer rejection was a significant prospective predictor of depressive symptoms when combined with high levels of importance ascribed to peer status and high levels of adolescents' depressogenic attributional styles.

The Use of Negative Events to Prime Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression

This prospective study tested three hypotheses put forth to explain previous inconsistencies in research examining the hopelessness theory of depression. Ninety-three university students completed measures of attributional style for achievement and interpersonal events both before and after experiencing a negative prime. Depressed mood was assessed before the priming task, and at two time points after the students completed their most difficult midterm exam: immediately after receiving their exam grade and 4 days later. Both exam outcome and attributional style, but not their interaction, were significant predictors of change in depressed mood immediately following the receipt of exam grades. Primed depressogenic attributional styles for achievement events interacted with a negative exam outcome to predict depressive mood reactions 4 days later.

Parental Discipline and Abuse Potential Affects on Child Depression, Anxiety, and Attributions

The current study investigated differences in children's emotional functioning as a product of their parents' reported disciplinary practices and child abuse potential. Families with no known history of abuse were recruited to ascertain whether depressogenic attributional style and depressive or anxious symptomatology was evident in children of parents who used harsher physical punishment and who had higher abuse potential. Forty‐two New Zealand children ages 8–12 participated with their parents. Child‐report measures of depression, anxiety, and attributional style were compared with parents' responses on physical discipline scenarios and child abuse potential. Children's anxiety symptoms were higher in those children whose parents obtained higher abuse potential scores and had harsher discipline practices. Children's depressive symptoms and some components of maladaptive attributional style were also found in families with higher abuse potential. Results suggest emotional difficulties similar to those of maltreated children even without identifiable abuse.

Cognitive vulnerability to depression in individuals with borderline personality disorder.

The goal of the current study was to examine whether individuals with comorbid Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) exhibit greater severity of depressive symptoms than (1) individuals with MDD without BPD and (2) individuals with neither MDD nor BPD. One hundred and forty-one individuals participated in a semi-structured clinical interview assessing MDD and BPD. They also completed measures assessing depressive symptoms, depressogenic attributional style, hopelessness, self-esteem, rumination, and dysfunctional attitudes. In line with hypotheses, individuals with BPD and MDD exhibited higher levels of depressive symptoms and cognitive vulnerability than individuals in the other two groups. In addition, after controlling for the effects of cognitive vulnerability, the effect of group membership on depressive symptoms was reduced, suggesting that the increased severity of depressive symptoms experienced by those with BPD is partially due to their possessing higher levels of cognitive vulnerability to depression.