Sex Roles, Vol. 10, Nos. 7/8, 1984

Comments on "Attributional Styles for Helplessness and Depression"

Christopher Peterson and Peter Villanova Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

In a recent article in this journal, Berndt, Berndt, and Kaiser (1982) described research investigating sex differences in attributional style and depression. On the basis of largely nonsignificant results, Berndt et al. questioned "the general- izability and usefulness" (p. 44 I) of the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression, which proposes that depressive symptoms are associated with a characteristic style of explaining bad events (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978). In this comment, we question the conclusion of Berndt et al. There are several grounds for our criticism:

I. The following studies have supported the prediction of the helplessness reformulation that depression is correlated with attributions of bad events to internal, stable, and global causes: Blaney, Behar, and Head (1980); Devins, Binik, Hollomby, Barre, and Guttmann (1981); Golin, Sweeney, and Shaeffer (1981); Hammen and Mayol (1982); Janoff-Bulman (1979); Kuiper (1978), McFarland and Ross (1982); O'Hara, Rehm, and Campbell (1982); Peterson, Schwartz, and Seligman (1981); Raps, Peterson, Reinhard, Abramson, and Seligman (1982); Seligman, Abramson, Semmel, and yon Bayer (1979); and Zemore and Johansen (1980). The noncorroborating £mdings of Berndt et al. must be evaluated in the context of these data. One can reasonably demand the Berndt et al. study to be methodologically impeccable before conclusions based on its nonsignificant results are taken seriously. Yet their research is inadequate.

2. Perndt et al. employed the affiliation and achievement subscales of the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Peterson, Semmel, yon Baeyer, Abramson, Metatsky, & Seligman, 1982). These subscales are composed of only three items each. Not surprisingly, they possess low reliabilities (mean alpha = .38; range .21 to .53) and no evidence of differential validity. Berndt et al. might have obtained more significant results had they employed the more reliable composite scales of the ASQ, as Peterson et al. (1982) suggested.

555

0360-0025/84/0400-0555503,50/0 © 1984 Plenum Publishing Corporation

556 Peterson and Villanova

3. To operationalize depression, Berndt et al. employed the Beck Depres- sion Inventory (BDI; Beck, 1967). Granted that one of their study's purposes was to investigate sex differences in depression, this is a poor operationaliza- tion. There is little evidence that college males and females score differently on the BDI (Hammen, 1980). Furthermore, Berndt et al. reported neither the mean nor the range of the BDI for their sample. Perhaps they failed to account for much variance in BDI scores because there was little with which to work.

4. Although research on sex differences must look at a data separately for males and females, sample sizes should be roughly comparable if conclu- sions based on comparisons between within-sample analyses are advanced. Berndt et al. studied 78 females and 34 males, a greater than 2 to 1 discrepancy. On purely statistical grounds, one would expect more significant rs for the female sample than for the male sample, and this is what Berndt et al. found. And with a sample size of 34, a simple r must exceed .33 to be significant at the .05 level. Individual differences research with unreliable instruments rarely finds rs of this magnitude (Mischel, 1968). The conclusion that "the attribu- tional model of depression is not useful for males" (Berndt et al., p. 441) is unjustified.

In sum, there are several good reasons not to regard the Berndt et al, data as a challenge to the attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness model. First, there is considerable empirical support for the reformulation. Second, the study by Berndt et al. is methodologically inadequate. Although Berndt et al. discussed problems with their research, they did not do so forcefully. They suggested that their data be regarded with "appropriate caution" (p. 440). We suggest instead an attitude of skepticism.

R E F E R E N C E S

Abzamson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P. & Teasdale, J. D. Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978, 87, 49-74.

Beck, A. T. Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Berndt, S. M. Berndt, D. J., & Kaiser, C. F. Attributional styles for helplessnesi and depres- sion: The importance of sex and situational context. Sex Roles, 1982, 8, 433-441.

Blaney, P. H., Behar, V., & Head, R. Two measures of depressive cognitions: Their associa- tion with depression and with each other. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1989, 89, 678-682.

Devins, G- M., Binik, Y. M. Idollomby, D. J., Barre, P. E., & Guttmann, R. D. Helplessness and depression in end-stage renal disease. Journal o¢ Abnormal Psychology, 1981, 90, 531-545.

Golin, S., Sweeney, P. D., & Shaeffer, D. E. The causality of causal attributions in depres- sion: A cross-lagged panel correlatiohal analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psycholog)~, 1981, 90, 14-22.

Hammen, C. Depression in college students: Beyond the Beck Depression Inventory. Journal of Consulting and ClinicaI Psychology, 1980, 48, 126-128.

Comments on "Attributional Styles" 557

Hammen, C., & Mayol, A depression and cognitive characteristics of stressful life-event types. Yourt~alofAbnormalPsychology, 1982, 91, 165-174.

Janoff-Buhnan, R. Characterological versus behavioral self-blame: Inquiries into depres- sion and rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1979, 37, 1798-1809.

Kuiper, N. A. Depression and causal attributions for success and failure. Journal of Per- sonal#y and Social Psychology, 1978, 36, 236-246.

McFarland, C., & Ross, M. Impact of causal attributions on affective reactions to success and failure. Journal of Personalio, and Social Psychology, 1982, 43, 937-946.

Mischel, W. Personality and assessment. New York: Wiley, 1968. O'Hara, M. W., Rehm, L. P., & Campbell, S. B. Predicting depressive symptomatology:

Cognitive-behavioral models and postpartum depression. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1982, 91, 457-461.

Peterson, C., Schwartz, S. M., & Seligman, M. E. P. Self-blame and depressive symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1981, 41, 253-259.

Peterson, C., Semmel, A., von Baeyer, C., Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G.I., & Seligman, M. E. P. The Attributional Style Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1982, 6, 287-299.

Raps, C. S., Peterson, C., Reinhard, K. E. Abramson, L. Y., & Seligman, M. E. P. Attribu- tional style among depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1982, 91, 102-108.

Seligman, M. E. P., Abramson, L. Y., Semmel, A., &von Baeyer, C. Depressive attributional style. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1979, 88, 242-247.

Zemore, R., & Johansen, L. J. Depression, helplessness, and failure attributions. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 1980, 12, 167-174.