CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS, DEPRESSION, AND POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER INVICTIMS OF CRIME

The major purpose of this study was to investigate relationships betwe en causal attributions and symptomatology in victims of crime. Fifty-o ne subjects who had not been crime victims and 120 subjects who had be en crime victims participated in the study and were assessed for sympt oms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Subjects also completed two attributional questionnaires. The potential differe nces in symptomatology among victims of a single crime, multiple crime s, and nonvictims were investigated. Results did not indicate differen ces in depression and PTSD based on single vs. multiple victimization, although differences between victims and nonvictims were found. Resul ts using the Causal Dimension Scale (CDS; Peterson et al., 1982) indic ated significant differences in the causal attributions of victims and nonvictims. On the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Russell, 1 982), group comparisons among nonvictims, PTSD victims, depression vic tims, both depression and PTSD victims, and victims with low symptoms did not yield significant results. However, regression analyses indica ted that several subscales of both the CDS and ASQ were found to be mo derate predictors of symptomatology. Implications for future research are discussed.