DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE IN A NEW-ZEALAND SAMPLE OF CHILDREN

Although maladaptive explanatory style correlates with depression, res earch has also linked maladaptive attributions with anxiety, suggestin g that attributional style cognitions are not unique to depression. Mi nimal work has explored whether the pattern of relationships among att ributional style, depression, and anxiety holds across cultures. Thus, the current study examined these relationships in a sample of New Zea land children and evaluated the specificity of maladaptive attribution al cognitions to depression. Sixty-nine New Zealand school children ag es 8 to 14 responded to three self-report measures: Children's Depress ion Inventory, Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale-Revised, Children's A ttributional Style Questionnaire. Scores on the measures were comparab le in some respects with those previously reported in the literature. Both depression and anxiety scores were significantly correlated with attributional style. However, multiple regression analysis revealed th at depression but not anxiety significantly predicted overall attribut ional style. Thus, anxiety was no longer significantly correlated with maladaptive explanatory style upon controlling for depression. Given the high comorbidity of anxiety and depression, the present results ha ve implications for prior research finding maladaptive attributions in other forms of psychopathology without controlling for depression.