Cognitive vulnerability-stress theories of depression: Examining negative cognitive styles in the prediction of hopelessness depression in adolescents

The Hopelessness Theory of Depression (HD theory; Abramson, Metalsky & Alloy, 1989) is a vulnerability-stress model that explains the origin of a subtype of depression by a “depressogenic cognitive style”. While a few studies have directly tested this theory, none have tested if, as the previous Learned Helplessness Reformulated Theory posits, the Generality dimension of the attributional style influence the maintenance of uncontrollability expectancies, named hopelessness by Abramson et al. (1989). In the first study, the regression analyses indicated that Generality, but not the tendency to infer negative consequences and characteristics about the self from negative life events, did predict the hopelessness expectancies in adolescents. To examine in a second longitudinal study whether the maintenance of hopelessness over time depends on the Generality of the attributional style, only those subjects with scores indicating high hopelessness were chosen; three mixed analysis of variance were made with the hopelessness scores as the dependent repeated measures variable (T1 vs. T2); the cognitive styles conditions (low vs. high) were the between-subjects variables. Results showed that only subjects with high Generality scores showed enduring hopelessness reactions. These findings contribute further to clarify the relevance of attributional style, but not of inferential styles, in hopelessness origin and maintenance, with implications for treatment programs.