Relationship of School-Based Attributions to Depression

Abstract

Relationships among attributions for success and failure and depression were investigated for 63 5th-grade students. Significant relationships were found among school-based attributions, as measured by global scale scores from the Student Academic Attribution Scale (SAAS) and the Student Social Attribution Scale (SSAS), general attributions as measured by the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ), and depression as measured by the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Scores from the SAAS and SSAS tend to be more strongly related to depression than do those from the CASQ. When scores from the SAAS, SSAS, and the CASQ were entered into a stepwise multiple regression, only global scores from the SAAS and the SSAS explained significant proportions of the variance in the BASC depression score. Results suggest that school-related attributions are more highly related to depression in nonclinical intermediate-grade students than are general attributions.