Showing papers in "Cognitive Therapy and Research in 1985"

Self-efficacy and the stages of self-change of smoking

Abstract: Efficacy expectations are postulated to mediate all behavior change. This study examined the construct of self-efficacy in the self-change of smoking behavior. A 31-item measure of self-efficacy was used that included ratings of both temptation (cue strength) and confidence (efficacy). The subjects were 957 volunteers representing five stages of self change: (1) immotives, (2) contemplators, (3) recent quitters, (4) long-term quitters, and (5) relapsers. Subjects were assessed initially and at a 3- to 5-month follow-up. The self-efficacy scale proved to be an extremely reliable and coherent instrument with identifiable but not clearly interpretable subcomponents. Groups of subjects demonstrated significant differences in total self-efficacy scores. Efficacy expectations demonstrated small but significant relationships with smoking history variables and the pros and cons of smoking, but not with demographic, life stress, or persistence measures. Subject's efficacy evaluations at the initial assessment were related to changes in status for recent quitters and contemplators at the follow-up. The relationship between temptation and efficacy ratings is complex and varies for subjects in the various stages of change. Correlations between total self-efficacy and temptation scores were largest for contemplators (r = −.65) and relapsers (r = −.67) and smallest for the recent quitters (r = −.18). Finally, the magnitude of the difference between temptation and efficacy increased with length of abstinence for subjects in maintenance.

Mood and self-efficacy: Impact of joy and sadness on perceived capabilities

Abstract: We examined the impact of happy and sad moods on efficacy judgments concerning a variety of activities. The mood was induced by having hypnotized subjects recall and revive their feelings about a romantic success or failure. Changes in efficacy that these memories induced were not restricted to the romantic domain but were also seen on interpersonal, athletic, and other activities remote from romance. The results suggested that emotional states have widespread impact on judgments by making mood-congruent thoughts more available. Implications for self-efficacy theory and practical applications are discussed.

The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale: Psychometric properties and relation to depression in an unselected adult population

Abstract: The Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS), a self-report inventory of beliefs derived from Beck's (1967) cognitive theory of depression to measure depressionogenic “schemas” constituting predispositions to depression, was developed in student populations. The DAS was jointly administered with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to 275 hospital employees and their spouses, 105 males and 170 females, and its psychometric properties were examined. Six-week test-retest reliability of the DAS was .73 (p <.001). Modest item-total correlations and lack of factorial equivalence between the two short forms of the DAS suggest it is best conceptualized and treated as a whole. This conclusion is lent support by the DAS's alpha coefficient of .90. The DAS and the BDI were correlated .41. Reliability and validity data for the DAS thus support its use as a measure of depressionogenic beliefs in the unselected adult population. Mean scores on the DAS did not differ significantly as a function of gender, failing to support differential distribution of a predisposition to depression that is cognitive in nature.

The relationship between problem-solving self-appraisal and psychological adjustment

Abstract: This study examined whether college students' self-appraisal of their problem-solving effectiveness (i.e., perceived confidence, personal control, approach-avoidance) is related to their psychological adjustment, as measured by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Subjects (N = 671) were initially given the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI; Heppner & Petersen, 1982), with 40 subjects who scored in the top 16% and 40 in the lower 16% of the PSI scores selected for additional participation; 67 (81% of the random sample) subsequently completed the study by responding to the MMPI. The data were analyzed on a scale-by-scale basis, as well as through profile analyses by two psychologists skilled in the interpretation of MMPI profiles. Results revealed that self-appraised ineffective (as opposed to effective) problem-solvers scored more negatively on a general index of psychological adjustment (the sum of all the clinical scales), differed on all of the hypothesized validity and clinical scales (F, K, F minus K, D, Pt, and Sc), and differed on all of the hypothesized additional scales (A, Es, Dy, Do, Re, Pr, St, Es minus A, and Do minus Dy). In addition, the profile analyses by the two psychologists suggested that the self-appraised ineffective problem-solvers were less well adjusted psychologically than the self-appraised effective problem-solvers, thus supporting the findings from the scale-by-scale analyses. Whereas behavioral adjustment has been previously linked to the ability to cope with problematic situations, perhaps an equally important variable is the person's appraisal of his/her coping ability.

Predicting response to cognitive therapy of depression: The role of learned resourcefulness

Abstract: Thirty-five moderately depressed outpatients were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of cognitive therapy (N = 19), or nortriptyline (N = 16). The patients were assessed on a number of measures before the initiation of treatment to explore the potential of pretreatment variables for predicting treatment response. Both groups of patients showed significant improvement by termination. Improvement did not differ as a function of the type of treatment received. However, an interaction between initial levels of learned resourcefulness, as measured by Rosenbaum's (1980a) Self Control Schedule (SCS), and type of treatment was found. Specifically, patients entering cognitive therapy with relatively high SCS scores did better than patients with low SCS scores. Patients in the pharmacotherapy group showed the opposite pattern: Patients with initially low scores on the SCS did better with medication than did the high scorers.

Mechanisms of action of cognitive therapy: The relative contributions of technical and interpersonal interventions

Abstract: The contributions of changes in cognitions (degree of belief in “automatic thoughts”) and the patient's relationship with his therapist to mood changes occurring during sessions of cognitive therapy were examined in data collected from 17 depressed and anxious patients. Results showed that both changes in automatic thoughts and the patient's relationship with his therapist made independent, additive contributions to mood changes. In addition, two patient characteristics (initial degree of belief in automatic thoughts and diagnosis) made significant unique contributions to mood changes. The stronger the patient's initial belief in his automatic thoughts, the smaller the mood change occurring in the session. Smaller mood changes also occurred in patients with a personality disorder diagnosis. These results suggest that mood changes in cognitive therapy sessions are a function of three types of factors: technical cognitive therapy interventions, the patient's relationship with his/her therapist, and patient characteristics. A multiple regression model with independent variables measuring these factors accounted for 89% of the variance in mood change in the session.

The effects of positive and negative imagery on motor skill performance

Abstract: An investigation was carried out into the effect of imagery instructions on a simple motor skill accuracy task (putting a golf ball). Thirty college students were blocked on their putting ability and randomly assigned within blocks to one of three experimental conditions: (a) positive imagery, (b) negative imagery, and (c) control. Subjects in the two imagery conditions were given the identical instructions for imagining the backswing and putting stroke. In the positive imagery group, subjects imagined the ball going into the cup, while subjects using negative imagery visualized the ball narrowly missing the cup. Subjects in the control group putted without instructions. On each of 6 consecutive days a 10-putt trial was conducted for each subject. There was a significant main effect on performance improvement for the experimental manipulation. Post hoc analyses showed significant differences among all groups, with positive imagery producing the most improvement, the control condition producing less, and negative imagery resulting in performance deterioration. Results are discussed in relation to the existing literature, and future research directions are delineated.

Self-efficacy and outcome expectations as predictors of controlled smoking status

Abstract: Two studies were conducted to develop and evaluate the usefulness of self-efficacy and outcome expectation measures in predicting smoking status Subjects were chronic smokers participating in controlled smoking treatment programs In Study 1, Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectancy Scales were developed and used to concurrently predict nicotine content, amount of each cigarette smoked, number of cigarettes smoked, and carbon monoxide levels Both congruence microanalyses and correlational analyses revealed a strong relationship between self-efficacy and the dependent variables Study 2, a larger prospective study, found strong correlations between our revised Self-Efficacy Scale and smoking behavior at a 6-month follow-up In neither study did outcome expectancy significantly correlate with the dependent variables, nor did it significantly increment the proportion of variance explained when combined with self-efficacy

Attributional processes in distressed and nondistressed married couples

Abstract: The present study compared the tendencies on the part of distressed and nondistressed couples to attribute their partners' positive and negative behavior to internal versus external factors. The prediction was that, compared to nondistressed spouses, distressed spouses would be inclined to attribute their partners' positive behavior to external factors, and their negative behavior to internal factors. Forty-nine nondistressed and 23 distressed couples were randomly assigned to one of two instructional manipulations, delivered to one spouse unbeknownst to the other. One set of instructions was to “act positive” during a subsequent conflict resolution interaction; the other was to “act negative.” Following the conflict resolution task, the uninstructed spouse was given the opportunity to explain his/her partner's behavior by completing a questionnaire consisting of a series of internal and external causal attributions. The findings supported the following hypothesis: Distressed couples were particularly likely to attribute their partners' negative behavior to internal factors; nondistressed couples, on the other hand, were particularly likely to attribute their partners' positive behavior to internal factors. Moreover, there was an overall tendency to favor internal attributions, regardless of distress level or valence of the behavior being interpreted. Discussion centered both on the implications of these findings and on directions for future research.

Problem-solving self-appraisal, depression, and Attributional Style: Are they related?

Abstract: Whereas previous research linking problem solving and depression has focused on problem-solving skills related to laboratory tasks, the relationship between higher-order cognitive variables such as an appraisal of one's general problem-solving skills and depression has not been addressed. Likewise, while attributions of one's behavior have been linked to depression, it is unclear if attributions are related to problem-solving appraisal. The present study examined both of these research problems. Self-appraised effective or ineffective problem-solvers completed the following: Beck Depression Inventory, Feelings and Concerns Survey, Attributional Style Questionnaire, and Mooney Problem Checklist. Results indicated that (a) assessment of one's problem-solving skills are related to the number of personal problems reported, and to ratings of short- and long-term depression; (b) assessment of one's problem-solving skills do not seem to be linearly related to attributional style; and (c) attributional style is not linearly related to depression. Results are discussed in terms of real-life problem-solving processes and a more complex model of depression.

Negative responses to depression: The role of attributional style.

Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that depressed individuals induce negative mood and elicit rejection in those with whom they interact. The present study was designed to examine the role of a depressive attributional style in this mood induction/rejection phenomenon. A group of 120 male and 120 female undergraduates read transcripts describing either a male or a female depressed, physically ill, or normal target individual who exhibited either behavioral or characterological self-blame for the cause of a negative event in his or her life. Subjects imagined interacting with the target and then responded to measures of mood and rejection. Both the depressed and the physically ill target individuals were found to elicit more negative mood and rejection than did the normal targets. In addition, subjects responded more negatively to the characterological than to the behavioral attributional style only when the target was described as normal; these two attributional styles did not elicit differential responses from subjects when the targets were already symptomatic. Finally, no differences in mood or rejection were obtained as a function of the sex of either the targets or the subjects. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for interactional models of depression. The consideration of attributional style as a vulnerability factor to depression is proposed, and a number of directions for future research are offered.

Partner similarity mediates interpersonal anxiety

Abstract: Socially anxious and nonanxious college students provided detailed personal information and were led to believe that they would soon interact with a person of the opposite sex who was either similar or dissimilar to them in terms of background, experience, and other attributes. In accord with the social psychological literature, nonanxious students greatly preferred similar to dissimilar partners. Socially anxious students showed no difference between their ratings of similar and dissimilar partners and assigned much less extreme ratings to both partners than did nonanxious subjects. Subjects' predictions about partners' likely anxiety and how partners would evaluate subjects' anxiety also differed according to subjects' anxiety levels, but these differences did not parallel attraction scores. Results are compared with other research on social anxiety and contrasted to past research on social anxiety, attitude similarity, and attraction. Directions for future research are addressed, and questions about the validity of the thought-listing technique are discussed.

Relationships of cognitions associated with coping reactions to depression in spousal caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients.

Abstract: Attributions (globality and stability) related to the reformulated learned helplessness (RLH) model of depression, and attributes, self-evaluations, and expectancies concerning coping reactions (degree of upset, success, satisfaction, control in future, future coping success) postulated by Wortman and Dintzer (1978) were examined for their respective relations to severity and prevalence of diagnosable depression in a highly stressed sample (N =68) of spouse caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients Subjects' attribution-related cognitions concerning two situational contexts were obtained: (1) an unpredictable upsetting behavior by the Alzheimer patient, and (2) significant life change experienced by the caregiver as a result of his/her spouse's Alzheimer's disease The results indicated that only globality was related to depression for the Alzheimer patient's unpredictable behavior; however, both globality and stability were related to depression for the subject's life change situation The pattern of the other depressogenic coping cognitions was also different for the two contexts: While ratings of upset and lack of current and future control were related to depression for the Alzheimer patient's behavior, ratings of poor current and future coping, lack of coping success, and coping dissatisfaction were related to depression for the subject's life change context The discussion of the contextual specificity of coping cognitive patterns focused on the possible significance of the intrapersonal versus the interpersonal nature of the situational context

Cognitive structures, cognitive processes, and cognitive-behavior modification: I. client issues

Abstract: Experimental research on cognitive structures and cognitive processes has important implications for the practice of cognitive-behavior modification. The concept of schemata, knowledge structures that guide cognitive processing, is introduced. Self-schemata, particularly important in the maintenance of maladaptive behavior patterns, are described and related to the construct of self-efficacy. Following this discussion, various cognitive processes, particularly shortcomings in human judgment arising from these cognitive structures (e.g., selective attention, confirmatory biases, egocentric biases, availability and representativeness heuristics, and illusory correlation) are presented. Similarly, research on the interaction of affect and cognition as well as research on metacognition is noted.

Thinking, depression, and antidepressants: Modified and unmodified depressive beliefs during treatment with amitriptyline

Abstract: Sixty depressed inpatients were treated exclusively with antidepressant medication and released at the resolution of their major depressive episodes. These individuals were studied over a 4-year period using a questionnaire that examined personal attitudes toward a variety of beliefs: a shortened form of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS). The DAS was administered to the patients upon their admission to the hospital (test), upon their release (retest), and again 1 year after their discharge (follow-up)—the latter obtained with 30 of the original sample. The psychiatrists filled out Hamilton's Rating Scale for Depression (HRS-D) on the same occasions. In this way, it was possible to examine the correlation between changes in depressive symptomatology and cognitive processes—specifically, the extent and nature of changed and unchanged client beliefs during the pharmacological intervention. The depressed group was compared with a homogeneous control group that filled out the DAS at the same times. Although many of the 37 beliefs examined had undergone significant change by the end of each client's depressive episode, 5 beliefs appeared to be quite resistant to change, persisting even 1 year after discharge. These specific beliefs may be differentially important in the cognitive organization of people prone to major depressive episodes.

“Involvement” in cognitive-behavioral therapy with children: Process and its relationship to outcome

Abstract: The rates of specific therapist and client verbal behaviors were examined within the context of behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, and attention-control interventions with children exhibiting classroom behavior problems. The 27 third- through sixth-grade children were referred by their teachers for participation in a treatment outcome study (Kendall & Braswell, 1982). All subjects were exposed to identical training materials and were seen for 12 50-minute sessions conducted over 7 weeks. All sessions were audiotaped. Seven-minute samples from the beginning, middle, and end of sessions 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, and 12 were scored according to a 13-category coding system. Correlations between these process categories and independent measures of treatment outcome suggested that child and therapist behaviors indicating active, positive “involvement” with the therapy tasks were associated with improvement and maintenance of therapy gains as assessed by teacher ratings of classroom behavior, while there were few significant relationships between the processes categories and the task performance and self-report measures of outcome and maintenance. In addition, in-session behavior was, for the most part, consistent with therapy labels. The importance of involvement in treatment, as a key factor in the quality of treatment, is discussed.

Cognitive structures, cognitive processes, and cognitive-behavior modification: II. judgments and inferences of the clinician

Abstract: This paper discusses some of the cognitive processes involved in clinical decision making. First, some common shortcomings in human information processing that might affect the clinician are addressed. These include confirmatory bias and prototype matching, use of the availability and representativeness heuristics, and problems with illusory correlations. Then, some ways in which the clinician can minimize the biasing effects of cognitive structures and resulting cognitive processes are suggested. If we can agree that clinicians may be more or less biased in their clinical judgment, then the most important future step is to design research studies that can evaluate the efficacy of different inferential approaches in clinical practice.

A diagnostic caution in screening for depressed college students.

Abstract: The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is the most frequently used research measure for selecting samples of depressed college students, and a cutoff score of 10 is most often used. Although previous studies have examined the diagnostic characteristics of subjects selected in this manner, these studies have been limited to examination of depressive diagnostic features and have focused on samples selected on the basis of a less commonly used cutoff score of 16. This study extends previous research by assessing a broad range of diagnostic characteristics of depressed college students identified using single (1-point) and dual (2-point) administrations of the BDI. Sixty-three college students meeting the BDI criterion for at least mild depression participated in structured interviews based on DSM-III. Results showed a high degree of diagnostic heterogeneity for both methods, although the 2-point criterion increased homogeneity marginally. The BDI screenings occasionally resulted in the selection of individuals with substance abuse disorders, precluding the diagnosis of an affective disorder. A second group of selected individuals contained students with past histories of psychiatric disorders, but no clinical symptoms at present. It is suggested that researchers carefully control for heterogeneity of student samples by following 2-point screening sessions with a brief diagnostic interview.

Proximity and specificity of planning: A position paper

Abstract: The results of a recent set of studies have generated some confusion about the parameters of planning. Several findings seem to suggest that relatively proximal and specific planning improves self-regulation, whereas other research seems to favor more distal and less specific planning. The relevant concepts are defined and the literature is reviewed in an attempt to begin resolving these apparent discrepancies. This analysis suggests five conclusions, in the form of potential principles of planning. First, performance feedback is probably necessary for planning to facilitate self-regulation. Second, relatively distal and moderately specific planning may prove effective in some cases because such planning regimens encourage people to pursue their goals by continually and flexibly choosing their activities (engaging in protracted choice). Third, the effectiveness of relatively distal and relatively nonspecific plans can be increased by the process of actively choosing subgoals within those plans. Fourth, highly specific and proximal planning may debilitate self-regulation in many cases because it can severely limit protracted choice. Finally, proximity and specificity of planning are continuous dimensions, the degrees of which are determined, in part, by as yet unspecified characteristics of tasks and populations.

Are cognitive assessment methods equal? A comparison of think aloud and thought listing

Abstract: The comparability of data generated by think aloud and thought listing was investigated. High math-anxious students completed two sets of mathematics problems. During one set they thought aloud while problem solving and during the other they listed their cognitions after completing each problem. Assessment method order and problem set order were counterbalanced in a split-plot design. The dependent variables included 11 cognitive content variables, subjective anxiety, number of problems correct, and amount of time for each problem set-assessment phase. Students were significantly more anxious and took longer to list thoughts than to think aloud. Differences on number of problems correct approached significance. On the average, think aloud produced about twice as many thoughts as thought listing and significantly more thoughts in four categories: review of information, strategic calculations, conclusions, and attention control. Thought listing produced significantly more positive problem-solving evaluations and more positive self-evaluations. An analysis on proportions revealed the same differences plus a significantly greater proportion of thoughts in five other categories for thought listing. The implications for cognitive assessment were discussed.

Depression and the effects of positive and negative feedback on expectations, evaluations, and performance

Abstract: The present study was designed to address questions raised in previous research concerning the manner in which depressed and nondepressed individuals process and utilize environmental information. Depressed and nondepressed subjects participated in a two-part task requiring them to respond to hypothetical problematic social situations. Subjects indicated their performance expectations before completing the first part of the task and subsequently evaluated their performance. Prior to undertaking the second part of the task, subjects received personal feedback ostensibly based on their responses on the first part of the task. Subjects received feedback that was either generally favorable or generally unfavorable, or received no feedback. Subjects then indicated their expectations for the second part of the task, completed the task, and evaluated their performance. Although depressed subjects were initially less optimistic than were nondepressed subjects and evaluated their performance somewhat less favorably, their performance on the two tasks was judged by external raters to be comparable to that of the nondepressed subjects. Negative feedback lowered the expectations of both depressed and nondepressed subjects; in addition, subjects receiving positive feedback also made surprisingly lower performance evaluations for the second task. The actual performance of subjects was not affected by the feedback. These results are discussed in terms of both cognitive and interactional models of depression, and implications for the treatment of depression and for future research are presented.

When depressive cognitions reflect negative realities.

Abstract: The cognitivist assertion that the depressive's negative cognitions are erroneous and immune to corrective environmental feedback rests on the implicit assumption that the feedback is not particularly negative in comparison to the feedback encountered by nondepressives. This paper reviews data concerning two related types of negative information available to the depressive: the actual circumstances in the depressive's life and the meanings attached to those circumstances by persons other than the depressive. It is suggested that depressed persons may be confronted by more negative information than nondepressed persons. The negative information may disconfirm positive beliefs about reality or elicit and validate negative beliefs. It is concluded that the cognitions concerning the self or the world of the depressive are not necessarily erroneous or impervious to the available information. The theoretical and clinical implications from a reciprocal influence perspective are discussed.

Cognitive-behavioral training for college basketball free-throw performance

Abstract: A cognitive-behavioral training program was implemented to improve the free-throw performance of three male Division-II college basketball players. A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used, finding percent improvements of 88%, 78.6%, and 50% for subjects 1, 2, and 3. Cognitive changes were measured via a videotape feedback reconstruction process. Significant changes from negative to positive cognitions were found.

Cognitive, emotional, and physiological components of Test Anxiety

Abstract: This study investigated sources of interference in highly test-anxious subjects performing under evaluative stress. Students from the upper and lower quartiles of the Test Anxiety Scale (Sarason, 1972) distribution took a short intellective test under either the usual test instructions or reassuring instructions. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed no effects for sex of subject, type of instructions for testing, or any of the interactions involving sex of subject, testing condition, and subject anxiety level. Subject anxiety level, however, was significant and yielded a consistent main effect on every variable except pulse rate, for which there was no effect either pretesting or posttesting. High-anxious subjects performed more poorly; felt less positive about themselves, their abilities, and the task; experienced more anxiety and felt it interfered more with performance; estimated spending less time on task; and rated themselves engaging in more worry, emotionality, and task-generated interference than did low-anxious subjects. Comparisons among the means for the high-anxious group revealed that worry and task-generated interference levels were not significantly different, but that both were higher than emotionality level. Regression analyses, however, suggested that worry was the primary source of interference, as only it consistently predicted performance and estimated time on task when common variance was controlled.

Stress-management interventions: A 15-month follow-up of aerobic conditioning and stress inoculation training

Abstract: This report presents findings from a 15-month follow-up of a study that compared the effectiveness of aerobic conditioning (i.e., jogging) and stress inoculation training in the reduction of anxiety for chronically stressed community residents (N =61). At this follow-up, both interventions led to continued reports of significantly less anxiety and greater self-efficacy. The superior treatment effects of stress inoculation in modifying inner dialogue, increasing positive self-statements, and decreasing negative self-statements were maintained. In addition, subjects experiencing stress predominantly as cognitive anxiety either maintained or increased their anxiety from post to follow-up, while somatic subjects continued to reduce their anxiety level. This held regardless of treatment condition. Since only 40% of the jogging group were still jogging at follow-up, the long-term maintenance of therapeutic gain with aerobic conditioning warrants further investigation.

Self-esteem and causal attributions for success and failure in children

Abstract: In a comparison of causal attributions following success and failure in hypothetical social, athletic, and academic situations, high self-esteem grade school children were more likely than low self-esteem children to attribute their success to “ability” and their failure to either “lack of effort” or “bad luck.” Low self-esteem children, on the other hand, attributed their success more often than high self-esteem children to “good luck” (and in social situations to “effort” and “task ease” as well) and their failure to “lack of ability.” Whereas prior studies that focused only on the internal-external dimension found that low and high self-esteem children differed in their attributional style to success but not to failure, the present study found that when distinctions between behavioral and characterological attributions (stability and globality dimensions) were included, the two groups differed significantly in response to both success and failure. Although perhaps not generalizable beyond the present attribution measure, the most pronounced attribution differences between low and high self-esteem children were observed in the social domain, the least in the academic domain, with athletics falling in between. Finally, it was found that sex and age (within the limited fourth- to sixth-grade range examined in the present study) did not alter the overriding difference in attributional style between low and high self-esteem children.

Distraction and depressive cognitions

Abstract: Recent advances in the treatment of depression have focused on the cognition of patients, not as a symptom of depression but as a probable cause. Research supporting such developments focuses on descriptions of the content of depressed cognitions. The present study using standard cognitive techniques examined depressive cognitions as processes trying to determine the effects of the operation of these cognitions on mental functioning. Subjects were tested on a recall task that required them to pay attention to two tasks at once under several levels of difficulty. Being exposed to a distracting shortterm memory task affected recall in a manner similar to that proposed for depressive schemata. The data suggest a model of how depressive schemata might actually operate in a parallel fashion.

The appropriateness of social topics: Effects of depression and cognitive vulnerability on self and other judgments

Abstract: The present study investigated the effect of depression and cognitive vulnerability to depression on judgments concerning the appropriateness of discussing various positive, neutral, and negative social topics Employing the Beck Depression Inventory as a measure of depression, depressed and nondepressed subjects provided both self- and other-referent appropriateness ratings The self-ratings referred to how appropriate it was for one's self to introduce and discuss the topic, whereas the other-ratings referred to how appropriate it was for the “average other” person to introduce and discuss the topic Results indicated that depressed subjects, relative to nondepressed, viewed the negative topics as more appropriate for discussion This effect was obtained for both the self- and other-referent conditions and was discussed in terms of its possible implications for the maintenance of depression A second aim of this research was to identify individuals cognitively vulnerable for depression, but currently nondepressed, and determine their judgments for topic appropriateness Using the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale as a measure of cognitive vulnerability toward depression, it was found that vulnerable but currently nondepressed individuals displayed a pattern of self-and other-referent appropriateness ratings quite similar to those of current depressives As such, this pattern was discussed in terms of its possible etiological role

Cognition and adjustment among children of separated or divorced parents

Abstract: The current study tested the hypothesis that coping with stress is associated with the individual's cognitive appraisals of the stressor and of their resources for coping with the stressor. Fifty-two children between 8.5 and 12 years of age who were experiencing the separation or divorce of their parents were given a measure of appraisals of divorce and a measure of appraisals of coping options. Their parents and teachers filled out behavior checklists, and teachers reported their classroom grades. For boys, appraisals of divorce situations were related to behavior in the home but not in the school. Boys' adaptive appraisals tended to be more strongly associated with behavior than were maladaptive appraisals. Their appraisals of coping options were related to personal adjustment in both the home and the school, but not to academic performance. For girls, only a few of the relationships between cognition and psychosocial adjustment were significant, possibly because of their restricted range of grades and scores on the behavior checklists. These findings provide partial support for the prediction that coping is related to appraisals of stressful events and of one's resources for coping with the events.

Levels of Attribution and Change (LAC) Scale: Development and measurement

Abstract: This article describes the construction and initial validation of the Levels of Attribution and Change (LAC) Scale, a 60-item instrument that assesses the levels and loci of causal attributions about a self-selected problem. A rationalinternal scale construction method was employed in which judges' ratings and principal component analyses resulted in 10 robust scales: Spiritual Determinism, Biological Inadequacies, Bad Luck, Environmental Difficulties, Maladaptive Cognitions, Familial Conflicts, Interpersonal Conflicts, Intrapersonal Conflicts, Chosen Lifestyle, and Insufficient Effort. The 10 components accounted for 67.5% of the total variance. Internal consistency coefficients ranged between .79 and .92 (M =.87). A cluster analysis yielded 10 distinct subject profiles, which resemble common attributional patterns. Second-order analyses revealed two underlying dimensions labeled Internal-Dispositional and External-Situational. It is concluded that the LAC Scale is an internally consistent, multidimensional inventory with considerable potential use, although additional normative and validity data are needed before operational use. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings and possible applications of the instrument are discussed.