Abstract
Based on a model of recovery from depression drawn from hopelessness theory (Needles & Abramson, 1990), we expected that in the presence of favorable events, cognitive style would predict the development of hope, and thus recovery from dysphoria. Among 91 subjects initially scoring 9 or above on the Beck Depression Inventory, a stable, global attributional style for positive events, in the presence of positive events, tended to predict recovery by a 3-week followup assessment. However, contrary to our prediction, inferring positive characteristics about the self from the occurrence of good events was associated with more subsequent depressive symptoms. An exploratory measure of overgeneralization of negative events predicted more subsequent symptoms.
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This paper was based on the masters thesis of Ruth Edelman under the direction of Anthony Ahrens at The American University. Many thanks to Dianne L. Chambless and two anonymous reviewrs for helpful comments on previous drafts of this manuscript, to Douglas Needles and Lyn Abramson for consultations about their procedures, and to Martin Edelman, Christopher McMahon, Walter Goldstein, Steven Livingston, Michael Malbin, and Bruce Miroff for their assistance in data collection. This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health grant 1 R03 MH47003-01A1 to Anthony H. Ahrens.
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Edelman, R.E., Ahrens, A.H. & Haaga, D.A.F. Inferences about the self, attributions, and overgeneralization as predictors of recovery from dysphoria. Cogn Ther Res 18, 551–566 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02355668
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02355668