title: Why do bad things happen to me? Attributional style, depressed mood, and persecutory delusions in patients with schizophrenia.
abstract: Theoretical models postulate an important role of attributional style (AS) in the formation and maintenance of persecutory delusions and other positive symptoms of schizophrenia. However, current research has gathered conflicting findings. In a cross-sectional design, patients with persistent positive symptoms of schizophrenia (n = 258) and healthy controls (n = 51) completed a revised version of the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire (IPSAQ-R) and assessments of psychopathology. In comparison to controls, neither patients with schizophrenia in general nor patients with persecutory delusions (n = 142) in particular presented an externalizing and personalizing AS. Rather, both groups showed a "self-blaming" AS and attributed negative events more toward themselves. Persecutory delusions were independently predicted by a personalizing bias for negative events (beta = 0.197, P = .001) and by depression (beta = 0.152, P = .013), but only 5% of the variance in persecutory delusions could be explained. Cluster analysis of IPSAQ-R scores identified a "personalizing" (n = 70) and a "self-blaming" subgroup (n = 188), with the former showing slightly more pronounced persecutory delusions (P = .021). Results indicate that patients with schizophrenia and patients with persecutory delusions both mostly blamed themselves for negative events. Nevertheless, still a subgroup of patients could be identified who presented a more pronounced personalizing bias and more severe persecutory delusions. Thus, AS in patients with schizophrenia might be less stable but more determined by individual and situational characteristics that need further elucidation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rhineland Friedrich Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany; Stephanie.mehl@staff.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehl
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rhineland Friedrich Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany;
authors.forename: Martin W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Landsberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rhineland Friedrich Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany;
authors.forename: Anna-Christine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cabanis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bechdolf
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University of Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany;
authors.forename: Jutta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herrlich
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg- Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loos-Jankowiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University, Marburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Tilo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kircher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Düsseldorf, LVR-Clinic Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kiszkenow
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Baden-Wuertenberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Klingberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Mareike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kommescher
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg- Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Bernhard W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sartory
authors.affiliation: Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Fulda, Germany.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wiedemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Baden-Wuertenberg, Germany;
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wittorf
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Düsseldorf, LVR-Clinic Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany;
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wölwer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rhineland Friedrich Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany;
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003702:Delusions / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003863:Depression / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: attributional style; depression; negative emotions; persecutory delusions; positive symptoms; schizophrenia
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