Psychological topics, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2011.
Original scientific paper
Gender Differences in Attributions for Negative and Positive Events, and Symptoms of Depression
Ana Kurtović
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta J.J. Strossmayera u Osijeku
Ivana Marčinko
; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta J.J. Strossmayera u Osijeku
Abstract
The hopelessness theory of depression posits that negative attributions of life events act as strong predictors of depressive symptoms, especially of a specific constellation of symptoms, called hopelessness depression. In trying to account for the differences in depression rates, some studies have shown that women have less adaptive patterns of attributions and experience more negative life events.
The purpose of this study was to examine whether boys and girls differ in rates of general depressive symptoms and symptoms of hopelessness depression, and whether those differences are better explained by differences in negative life events, self-esteem and attributions for negative and positive events, or by differences in their effect on depressive symptoms in adolescents.
The sample consisted of 419 students attending 7th and 8th grade of primary school, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade of high school.
Results did not show differences in general depression symptoms, hopelessness depression symptoms, negative life events, or internality and globality of causes of negative events. However, results did show that girls have more stable, internal and global attributions for positive events, and that boys have more stable attributions for negative events.
In addition, results demonstrated that stable explanations of negative events predict higher levels of hopelessness depression independently in girls, while only their interaction with stress predicts hopelessness depression in boys. Results also showed that internal explanations of both negative and positive events predict lower levels of hopelessness depression in boys.
Keywords
depression; hopelessness depression; attributions; gender differences
Hrčak ID:
68679
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2011.
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