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.