Abstract
A study was conducted to investigate whether or not the relationship between attributional style, daily life events or “hassles,” and hopelessness depression is mediated by gender and mood at the time when attributional style is assessed. Measures of attributional style, hassles, depression, and hopelessness were administered, in a prospective design, to 100 undergraduate students on two occasions separated by 1 month. Results showed that the interaction of attributional style, hassles, and gender predicted change in hopelessness levels (p <.05) and that this interaction demonstrated a nonsignificant trend toward predicting change in depression symptom levels (p =.07). The interaction of attributional style, hassles, and time 1 depression scores also demonstrated a nonsignificant trend toward predicting change in depression symptom levels (p =.08), but did not predict change in hopelessness levels. The interaction of attributional style and hassles did not, by itself, predict change in either depression or hopelessness levels. These findings suggest that research investigating relationships between causal attributions for negative life events and depression should consider the potential influences of gender and of mood at the time when causal attributions are assessed.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., and Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory based subtype of depression.Psychological Review, 96 358–372.
Barnett, P. A., & Gotlib, I. H. (1990). Cognitive vulnerability to depressive symptoms among men and women.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14 47–61.
Brewin, C. R. (1985). Depression and causal attributions: What is their relation?Psychological Bulletin, 98 297–309.
Cochran, S. D., & Hammen, C. L. (1985). Perceptions of stressful life events and depression: A test of attributional models.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 1562–1571.
DeLongis, A. (1985).The relationship of everyday stress to health and well-being: Inter- and intra-individual approaches. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
DeLongis, A., Coyne, J. C., Dakof, G., Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1982). Relationship of daily hassles, uplifts, and major life events to health status.Health Psychology, 1 119–136.
DeLongis, A., Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). The impact of daily stress on health and mood: Psychological and social resources as mediators.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 486–495.
Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., & Covi, L. (1973). SCL-90: An outpatient psychiatric rating scale-preliminary report.Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9 13–28.
Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Check List (HSCL): A self-report inventory.Behavioral Science, 19 1–15.
Johnson, J. G., & Bornstein, R. F. (in press). The revised hassles scale predicts psychopathology symptoms when preexisting psychopathology is accounted for.Journal of Social Behavior and Personality.
Johnson, J. G., & Miller, S. M. (1990). Attributional, life-event, and affective predictors of onset of depression, anxiety and negative attributional style.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14 417–430.
Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4 1–39.
Lewinsohn, P. M., Steinmetz, J. L., Larson, D. W., & Franklin, J. (1981). Depression-related cognitions: Antecedent or consequence?Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90 213–219.
Metalsky, G. I., Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., Semmel, A., and Peterson, C. (1982). Attributional style and life events in the classroom: Vulnerability and invulnerability to depressive mood reactions.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43 612–617.
Metalsky, G. I., Halberstadt, L. J., and Abramson, L. Y. (1987). Vulnerability to depressive mood reactions: Toward a more powerful test of the diathesis-stress and causal mediation components of the reformulated theory of depression.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52 386–393.
Miranda, J., & Persons, J. B. (1988). Dysfunctional attitudes are mood-state dependent.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 9 76–79.
Miranda, J., Persons, J. B., & Byers, C. N. (1990). Endorsement of dysfunctional beliefs depends on current mood state.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99 237–241.
Monroe, S. M. (1983). Major and minor life events as predictors of psychological distress: Further issues and findings.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 6 189–205.
Nolen-Hoeksma, S., Girgus, J. S., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1986). Learned helplessness in children: A longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 435–442.
Seligman, M. E. P., Abramson, L. Y., Semmel, A., and von Baeyer, C. (1979). Depressive attributional style.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88 242–247.
Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. (1989). Attributional style and depressive mood reactions.Journal of Personality, 57 581–599.
Weinberger, M., Hiner, S. L., & Tierney, W. M. (1987). In support of hassles as a measure of stress in predicting health outcomes.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10 19–31.
Whiffen, V. E., & Gotlib, I. H. (1989). Stress and coping in maritally satisfied and dissatisfied couples.Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6 327–344.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was funded in part by a Gettysburg College Institutional Renewal Grant. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Constance Hammen and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments regarding earlier versions of this article.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Johnson, J.G. Gender and mood as mediators of the relationship between attributional style, daily life events, depression symptoms, and hopelessness. Cogn Ther Res 16, 687–697 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175407
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175407