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Integrating the Hopelessness Model and the Response Style Theory in an Adolescent Sample

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Abstract

Integrations of cognitive models of depression, specifically, the hopelessness model (Abramson et al. Psychological Bulletin, 96, 358–372, 1989) and the response style theory (Nolen-Hoecksema et al. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 405–422, 1992) have been suggested but no previous study has compared the integrations of these models with each other and the original models. Further, previous studies only tested the associations between composite scores of inferences, from the hopelessness model, and rumination (incl. brooding and reflection), from the response style theory. Thus, a 3-wave study using self-report instruments with 519 adolescents was conducted (mean ageWave 1 = 16.09 years; SD = 0.70; 62.7% female; 72.8% European American, 14.7% African-American, 5.4% Latino, 4.4% mixed race/ethnicity, 1.4% Asian/Pacific Islander, 0.8% Native American, and 0.6% identified as “other”). The school serves predominantly working to middle class families and almost one third of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch programs. AMOS and RMediation were used to calculate and compare five different theory-driven models. The findings of the study provide support for an integrated model in which both brooding and reflection are influenced by individual inferences and interact with individual inferences while affecting depressive symptoms. In addition, reflection plays an unexpectedly important role in this integrated model. Age and cognitive development are discussed as possible explanations for this finding.

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Notes

  1. Robinson and Alloy (2003) measured rumination as proposed in the response style theory and stress-reactive rumination. While the first did not predict depression the latter did predict depression in this study.

  2. The authors do not provide details about the associations in the mediation or moderation models. Thus, it does not add to the discussion about those models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Louisville, 2301 S. Third Street, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA

    Patrick Pössel & Caroline M. Pittard

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  1. Patrick Pössel
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  2. Caroline M. Pittard
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Correspondence to Patrick Pössel.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Pössel, P., Pittard, C.M. Integrating the Hopelessness Model and the Response Style Theory in an Adolescent Sample. J Abnorm Child Psychol 47, 695–706 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0465-z

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