Restated in such a way as to isolate and remove the confounding influence of overall attributional style, the learned helplessness model of depression works for affective, somatic, and psychological symptoms of 160 Filipino college students. Applied to 227 American students, the restated model predicts affective and psychological, but not somatic,…

Examines why the role of housewife may actually foster depression. Presents the concept of learned helplessness as a tool for understanding and treating depressed housewives. Suggests social workers use a task-oriented approach in treating women who feel they have no control over their lives. (Author/JAC)

The present study is an examination of the effects of quality and quantity of social support on the psychological and physical well-being of women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Participants were 568 women who were members of a health maintenance organization (HMO) with a confirmed diagnosis of FMS. Participants were administered a battery of…

Loneliness has been implicated as a central causal factor in depression, suicide, social problems, physical illness and general maladjustment. To investigate the correlates of loneliness in gifted adolescents, 175 adolescents (aged 14-17) who had been separated from their homes to participate in a special academic program completed a battery of…

The author discusses Seligman's research on helplessness: how it is learned, what factors influence its formation, how it is unlearned and the implications of his research for counseling depressed clients. The author clains that directive counseling would be quite helpful for depressed and helpless clients. (SE)

This paper explores in depth the possibility that learned helplessness and depression may explain the gap in academic performance between middle-class children and children from minority and poverty backgrounds. Emphasis is placed on Black Americans, because more data is available about this group. (Author/SJL)

This study examined the impact of the 1998 Canadian ice storm on the physical and psychological health of older adults (age greater than 55 years) living with a chronic physical illness, namely osteoarthritis and/or osteoporosis. Although disasters are relatively rare, they are a useful means of examining the impact of a single stressor on a group…

Research has confirmed the prevalence of depression in women, based on theoretical explanations that encompass genetic/endocrinological factors, the learned helplessness model, the cognitive model of depression, the effects of marital and occupational roles, and/or social discrimination. Women (N=215) completed a questionnaire which examined…

A continuous assessment and a categorical diagnosis of the presence (i.e., flourishing) and the absence (i.e., languishing) of mental health were proposed and applied to the Midlife in the United States study data, a nationally representative sample of adults between the ages of 25 and 74 years (N = 3,032). Confirmatory factor analyses supported…

An attributional model that conceptualizes the pressures that reduce professors' personal and career vitality is presented. The model is based primarily on the locus of control literature and especially the reformulated model of learned helplessness by Lynn Abramson, Martin Seligman, and John Teasdale. The analysis deals only with the cognitive…

A model of women's readiness to terminate an abusive relationship was examined, using cognitive and emotional factors to predict readiness to change as conceptualized in the transtheoretical model. Factors previously identified in the domestic violence literature were selected to represent cognitive predictors (attribution and attachment style)…

This paper summarizes an investigation of a specific set of findings from the Monitoring the Future project, an annual survey of the attitudes and values of high school seniors that has occurred since 1975. The findings investigated relate to indicators of anxiety among these students about the threat of nuclear war. The study developed two…

Doctors annually treat between approximately four and eight million Americans for depression. Behavioral changes in depressed individuals are characterized by sadness, loneliness, and apathy. Other symptoms include fatigue, early morning insomnia, loss of appetite, and suicide attempts. Underlying depression may mask itself in physical symptoms,…

Ecological barriers like racism and discrimination can weigh heavily on the shifting emotions of adolescents. We investigated the relationship of racial socialization experiences to the depression symptoms of 160 Black adolescents, including lethargy, low self-esteem, cognitive difficulties, social introversion, irritability, guilt, pessimism, sad…

Based on extensive research with children and young adults, this book examines adaptive and maladaptive cognitive-motivational patterns and shows how these patterns originate in people's self theories; their consequences for one's achievement, social relationships, and emotional well-being; their consequences for society; and the experiences that…