Subjects with long standing disabilities ranked disabilities on a scale of fortunate to unfortunate. Subjects tended to rank themselves as more fortunate (and therefore less disabled) than individuals with other types of disabilities, unlike nondisabled or recently disabled persons. The results suggest adaptation to disability after the remission…

This study evaluates the ability of the hopelessness theory of depression's etiological chain to account for this relation in a sample of 297 undergraduates. Results indicated that emotional, but not physical or sexual, maltreatment was uniquely related to average levels of suicidal ideation across a 2.5-year follow-up. (Author)

The potential for feelings of hopelessness and depression in the aged is well documented. Although studies have examined the role of perceived control in ameliorating depression in the institutionalized elderly, no research has actually measured the perceived causal attributions among depressed, hopeless and/or institutionalized elderly…

Learned helplessness has recently incorporated attribution theory to predict the specific occurrence/nonoccurrence of the motivational, cognitive and affective deficits characteristic of helplessness. College students (N=50) participated in a study to investigate the effects of a personal-universal helplessness manipulation on subsequent task…

The experiment tested the hypothesis that the stress experienced by a person who is unable to control aversive stimulation is not a function of lack of control per se, but of the attribution of causality that one makes for failure to exert control. (Editor)

Experiences with uncontrollable events may lead to the expectation that future events will elude control, resulting in disruptions in motivation, emotion, and learning. This text explores this phenomenon, termed learned helplessness, tracking it from its discovery to its entrenchment in the psychological canon. The volume summarizes and integrates…

Experienced elementary teachers (N=98) described their general strategies for coping with failure syndrome students and told how they would handle incidents depicted in two vignettes portraying failure syndrome problems at school. Compared to their responses concerning some of the other problem student types addressed in the Classroom Strategy…

The author reviews literature on childrens' reactions to perceived failure and offers "learned helplessness" as a model to explain why a child who makes a mistake gives up. Suggestions for preventing these reactions are given. (Author/JMK)

Homeless youth are a population at a high risk for suicidal behavior. A previous exploratory study emphasized the importance of feeling trapped or helpless, which appeared to mediate the impact of other risk variables. Confirmatory work was needed to test this inductively derived model. Two hundred eight homeless youths completed surveys on the…

Abramson, Seligman and Teasdale's reformulated model of learned helplessness hypothesized that an attribution of causality intervenes between the perception of noncontingency and the future expectation of future noncontingency. To test this model, relationships between attribution and performance under failure, success, and control conditions were…

Reviews research on the effects of repeated experiences of helplessness and on locus of control. Identifies conditions necessary for overcoming learned helplessness; i.e., the potential for learning to occur; consistent reinforcement; relevant, valued reinforcers; and favorable psychological situation. Recommends eight ways for teachers to…

This study found that, compared to nonmaltreated children, 19 children (ages 8-13) who had been physically and emotionally abused by their parents showed greater depressive symptomatology, including feelings of sadness, lower self-esteem and self-worth, and perceived lack of control over aversive events (helplessness). (Author/JDD)

Recent research on domestic violence has sought to provide insight into the psychological consequences of such violence. A conceptual framework, which suggests that both situational and person-centered factors contribute to adjustment to violence and affect a woman's personal and social resources, was formulated to examine the impact of stress,…

It has been argued that traditional psychiatric labels, hospitalization, anti-psychotic medication, and associated assistance programs tend to reinforce and perpetuate a sense of helplessness and dependency among mental patients. To investigate feelings of power and dependency of 15 neuropsychiatric patients in a sheltered workshop,…

The question of whether special education students exhibit more learned helpless behavior and a more external locus of control than regular students is examined. The effects of these psychological conditions on school success are considered, and programs for alleviating learned helplessness and establishing a more internal locus of control are…