Attributional style in depression: A meta-analytic review.

Abstract

In this article we report meta-analyses of the relation of attributional styles to depression. In 104 studies involving nearly 15,000 subjects, several attributional patterns had reliable associations with depression scores. For negative events, attributions to internal, stable, and global causes had a reliable and significant association with depression. Studies in which the attribution factors of ability and luck were measured also showed a reliable association with depression. For positive events, attributions to external, unstable, and specific causes were associated with depression. Ability and luck attribution factors for positive events were also associated with depression. The relations for positive events, however, were weaker than the corresponding ones for negative events. In general, these patterns of relations were independent of a number of potential mediators suggested by authors in this literature, including the type of subject studied (psychiatric vs. college student), the type of event about which the attribution is made (real vs. simulated), the depression measure used, or the publication status of the research report. These conclusions are compared with those of other reviews. Implications for attributional models of depression are discussed.

Perceived superiority in close relationships: Why it exists and persists.

“…Moreover, individuals may differ in their tendencies to hold accurate versus illusory beliefs (e.g., superior beliefs may be less evident among individuals suffering from depressive tendencies; Sweeney, Anderson, & Bailey, 1986). Our findings suggest that accuracy goals may induce enhanced attention to the negative features of one's own relationship, which in turn may impede relationship growth and vitality.…”

Counterfactual thinking and functional differences in depression

“…To enhance performance and avoid future negative outcome, the right cause must be identifi ed for a particular consequence. Nevertheless, depressed people show a consistent bias in their causal attributions (Seligman, Abramson, Semmel, & von Baeyer, 1979;Sweeney, Anderson, & Bailey, 1986;Weary & Edwards, 1994). Individuals with a depressive attributional style, when confronted with a negative outcome tend to identify causes that they perceive as uncontrollable, internal, stable and global.…”

Estudio de la validez de la versión española del Cuestionario de Estilo Atribucional ante Situaciones Negativas [Study as to the validity of the Spanish version of Attributional Style Questionnaire for Negative Situations]

“…Desde entonces, diferentes estudios realizados desde esta perspectiva teórica, y casi exclusivamente de carácter transversal, han mostrado una asociación entre este estilo y el desarrollo de síntomas depresivos (Alloy, Just y Panzarella, 1997;Alloy y Clements, 1998;Hankin, Abramson y Siler, 2001;Sweeney, Anderson y Bailey, 1986).…”

“…En relación con sus características psicomé-tricas, diversos estudios han mostrado una adecuada consistencia interna de los items que miden el EEN mediante la versión original del ASQ, con coefi cientes alpha que oscilan entre 0,7 y 0,73 (Peterson et al, 1982;Reivich, 1995;Reivich y Gillham, 2003;Sweeney et al, 1986).…”