Nadine J. Kaslow

Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children.

The reformulation of helplessness theory proposes that an insidious attributional style accompanies and predisposes depressive symptoms To date, all research investigating the reformulation has used adult subjects In the present study, we investigated predictions of the reformulation among 8-13-year-old children Children who attributed bad events to internal, stable, and global causes were more likely to report depressive symptoms than were children who attributed these events to external, unstable, and specific causes This depressive attributional style predicted depressive symptoms 6 months later, suggesting that it may be a risk factor for depression Finally, childrens style for bad events and their depressive symptoms converged with those of their mothers, but not with those of their fathers

Social-cognitive and cognitive correlates of depression in children.

The present investigation examined depression and its social-cognitive and cognitive correlates in a sample of 108 elementary school children: 36 children in each of grades 1, 4, and 8. Children were classified as depressed and nondepressed according to their scores on the Childrens Depression Inventory (CDI). Depression appeared stable over a 3-week time interval. Depressed children reported a higher number of “masking” symptoms, were rated as more depressed by their teachers, and perceived their family environment to be more distressed. As posited, when compared to nondepressed children, depressed children have lower self-esteem, a more depressive attributional style, and more self-control deficits. Further, they have impaired performance on some cognitive tasks (block design, coding digit span) but not all (vocabulary). The prediction that depression would be manifested differently in first-, fourth-, and eighth-graders was not supported.

Attributional style and self-control behavior in depressed and nondepressed children and their parents

Do the reformulated model of learned helplessness and the self-control model apply to clinically depressed children? Are the related cognitive patterns specific to depression? Are the cognitive deficits associated with depression learned from ones parents? To address these questions this investigation examined three groups of children (ages 8–12) and their parents: nonclinic (n =25),nondepressed clinic (n=22),and depressed clinic (n=15).Children were diagnosed depressed on the basis of Kiddie-SADS interview data. Depressed clinic children self-reported more depression, had a more depressive attributional style, and had more self-control problems. There were more depressed mothers in the clinic than in the nonclinic sample. Depressed clinic children had more depressed mothers than did nondepressed clinic children. There were no differences among the three groups of parents in their cognitive patterns. No relationship was found between the attributional style and self-control behavior of children and their parents.

Problem-solving deficits and depressive symptoms among children

Depressive symptoms among 40 fourth- and fifth-grade students as measured by the Childrens Depression Inventory, correlated highly with impaired problem solving at block designs (r=.64) and anagrams (r=.67). Similar impairments have been found among depressed adults, suggesting that depression among children may be continuous with depression among adults.

Factors influencing continuation in a behavioral therapy

Abstract One hundred and forty-seven depressed women who either completed, dropped-out of or refused a 10-week, self-control, group therapy program were compared on: demographic variables, depression indices, depression theory-related performances, personality variables and attitudes about therapy. Compared with treatment Completers, treatment Refusers presented a more acute crisis, reported a rapid onset of depression, had experienced fewer prior depressive episodes and were most likely to receive a diagnosis of situational (reactive) depression. Results also indicated that individuals of higher SES and those who endorsed expectancies congruent with the offered treatment rationale were most likely to continue in treatment.

Changes in symptoms of depression during the course of therapy

Questions concerning the qualitative and quantitative nature of symptom change were investigated within the context of a large outcome study which compared three versions of a self-control therapy program for depression. Weekly short-form Beck Depression Inventory items were examined for patterns and rates of change for 13 symptoms of depression throughout the treatment program. Results indicated no differences due to the specific content of the therapy program. Most symptoms diminish in curvilinear fashion with the greatest change occurring in the first three to four weeks of therapy. Several symptoms, and particularly sadness and suicidal ideation, showed major decreases prior to the first therapy session. The sequential order of item changes are described.

Interpersonal deadlock and the suicidal adolescent: An empirically based hypothesis

Abstract This paper details the interaction of a family whose adolescent daughter was brought to the Emergency Room following an overdose. A microanalysis of the familys interaction was coded using the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) model of interpersonal behavior. The SASB observations of this case suggest that suicidal behavior may be a response to an interpersonal climate in which concurrent, complex messages of both hostile control and hostile autonomy-giving are given to an adolescent by her family. Treatment implications that arise directly from this empirically based formulation are discussed.