THE ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS (ASF-KJ) - STUDIES OF ITS PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES

Recent studies on the attributional model of depression have shown tha t children and adolescents who exhibit a depressive attributional styl e (i.e., who favor internal, stable, and global causes for negative ev ents and external, instable, and specific causes for positive events) are subject to a higher risk of depression. The present article descri bes the construction of a questionnaire to access depressive attributi onal style in children and adolescents (ASF-KJ) and presents initial f indings on its psychometric properties. Subjects were 855 fourth-grade elementary school and fifth- to eight-grade secondary school children from all types of secondary school. Results showed that the reliabili ty of the ASK-KJ (internal consistency and retest reliability) was sat isfactory to good. With regard to construct validity, a depressive att ributional style following negative events was accompanied by increase d depression, lower self-esteem, and a lower evaluation of ones own ab ility.