STRESS AND ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE AS PREDICTORS OF SELF-REPORTED DEPRESSION IN CHILDREN

Attributional approaches to depression, such as hopelessness theory (Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1989), suggest that a stable, global attributional style for negative events combined with failure to achieve a highly valued outcome will lead to depression. The current study assessed the ability of the interaction of attributional style and daily negative events to predict self-reported depression in children. Eighty-four children between the ages of 9 and 12 participated in this longitudinal study. Self-reported depression symptoms were assessed before and after exposure to stressful events. The data analysis consisted of stepwise hierarchical multiple-regression procedures. While attributional style alone did not predict change in self-reported depression symptoms following stressful events, the interaction of attributional style with stress did predict them Stress predicted depression symptoms as well.