Depressive attributional style: the role of self-esteem.
Two studies evaluate the role of self-esteem in the depressive attributional style. In the first study, college students completed four measures of depression, four measures of self-esteem, and the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Regression analyses revealed that across measures, self-esteem was a better predictor of attributional style for negative events than was depression. In study two, psychiatric inpatients completed a measure of self-esteem, a measure of depression, and the ASQ. In this clinical sample, self-esteem and depression were highly correlated and both predicted ASQ scores. But when variation in depth of depression and social desirability were removed statistically from the association between self-esteem and attributions for negative outcomes, there remained a significant association between self-esteem and internal, stable, and global attributions for negative outcomes. Controlling for the variation in self-esteem eliminated the relation between depression and depressive attributional style. These findings demonstrate the importance of self-esteem in depressive attributional style in both normal and clinical populations, as well as potential differences in the relations among self-esteem, depression, and attributional style in clinical versus normal samples.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06032.
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Tennen
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Herzberger
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Nelson
D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012718:Set, Psychology