Despite research indicating that adolescents with Asperger syndrome are prone to depression, there is no research investigating the attributions of these individuals and the possibility of a learned helplessness attributional style that may predispose these persons to depression or to maintain depressive symptoms. This study investigated the relationship between level of depressive symptoms and general attributional or explanatory style in 33 adolescents with Asperger syndrome. Support was found for the reformulated theory of learned helplessness in adolescents with Asperger syndrome. The more depressive symptoms the adolescents reported, the more the adolescents explained negative events by internal, stable, and global causes. One third of the participants obtained scores on the Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire composite for positive events that are considered to be suggestive of a very pessimistic, failure-prone style. However, only 9% of the participants rated themselves as having substantially more depressive symptoms than peers on the Children's Depression Inventory. Given that 70% of the participants were taking medication for depression, these findings may suggest that the medication controlled depressive symptoms but did not affect the maladaptive attributional style. Findings of the study are discussed relative to implications for practitioners in designing positive behavior interventions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abramson, L.Y., Alloy, L.B., & Metalsky, G.I. (1995). Hopelessness depression . In G. McClellan Buchanan & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Explanatory style (pp. 113-134). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
2.
Abramson, L.Y., Garber, J., & Seligman, M.E.P. (1980). Learned helplessness in humans: An attributional analysis. In J. Garber & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Human helplessness: Theory and applications (pp. 3-34). New York: Academic Press.
3.
Abramson, L.Y., Seligman, M.E.P., & Teasdale, J.D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology , 87, 49-74.
4.
Asperger, H. (1944). Die "Autistischen Psychopathen" im Kindesalter . Archiv fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76-136.
5.
Atherley, C. (1988). The cognitive, learned-helplessness and hopelessness theories of depression: A review with implications for counsellors. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 16, 286-299.
6.
Attwood, T. (1998). Asperger's syndrome: A guide for parents and professionals . London: Kingsley.
7.
Aydin, G. (1988). The remediation of children's helpless explanatory style and related unpopularity. Cognitive Therapy and Research , 12, 155-165.
8.
Bieber, J. (Producer). (1994). Learning disabilities and social skills with Richard LaVoie: Last one picked... first one picked on. Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service.
9.
Bodiford, C.A., Eisenstadt, T.H., Johnson, J.H., & Bradlyn, A.S. (1988). Comparison of learned helpless cognitions and behavior in children with high and low scores on the children's depression inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 17, 152-158.
10.
Curry, J.E., & Craighead, W.E. (1990). Attributional style and self-reported depression among adolescent inpatients. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 12, 89-93.
11.
DeRubeis, R.J., & Hollon, S.D. (1995). Explanatory style in the treatment of depression . In G. McClellan Buchanan & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Explanatory style (pp. 99-111). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
Dweck, C.S. (1975). The role of expectations and attributions in the alleviation of learned helplessness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 674-685.
14.
Ehlers, S., & Gillberg, C. (1993). The epidemiology of Asperger syndrome: A total population study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 34, 327-350.
15.
Frith, U. (Ed.). (1991). Asperger and his syndrome. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 1-36). Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press.
16.
Ghaziuddin, M., Weidmer-Mikhail, E., & Ghaziuddin, N. (1998). Comorbidity of Asperger syndrome: A preliminary report. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 42, 279-283.
17.
Gillberg, C., & Ehlers, S. (1998). High-functioning people with autism and Asperger syndrome: A literature review. In E. Schopler , G. Mesibov, & L. J. Kunce (Eds.), Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism? (pp. 79-106). New York: Plenum.
18.
Gray, C. (1995). Social stories unlimited: Social stories and comic book conversations. Jenison, MI: JenisonPublic Schools.
19.
Hardan, A., & Sahl, R. (1999). Suicidal behavior in children and adolescents with developmental disorders. Research in Developmental Disabilities , 20, 287-296.
20.
Hurlburt, R.T., Happe, F., & Frith, U. (1994). Sampling the form of inner experience in three adults with Asperger syndrome. Psychological Medicine, 24, 385-395.
21.
Koegel, R.L., Koegel, L.K., & Parks, D.R. (1995). "Teach the individual" model of generalization: Autonomy through self-management. In R. L. Koegel & L. K. Koegel (Eds.), Teaching children with autism: Strategies for initiating positive interactions and learning opportunities (pp. 67-77). Baltimore: Brookes.
22.
Kovacs, M. (1992). Children's depression inventory. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
23.
Metalsky, G.I., Abramson, L.Y., Seligman, M.E.P., Semmel, A., & Peterson, C. (1982). Attributional styles and life events in the classroom: Vulnerabilit ity and invulnerability to depressive mood reactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 612-617.
24.
Myles, B.S., & Simpson, R.L. (1998). Asperger syndrome: A guide for educators and parents . Austin, TX: PRO-ED.
25.
Myles, B.S., & Southwick, J. (1999). Asperger syndrome and difficult moments: Practical solutions for tantrums, rage, and meltdowns. Shawnee Mission, KS: Autism Asperger Publishing.
26.
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Girgus, J.S., & Seligman, M.E.P. (1986). Learned helplessness in children: A longitudinal study of depression, achievement, and explanatory style. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 435-442.
27.
Rodriguez, C.M., & Pehi, P. (1998). Depression, anxiety, and attributional style in a New Zealand sample of children. New Zealand Journal of Psychology , 27, 28-34.
28.
Rourke, B.P., Young, G.C., & Leenaars, A.A. (1989). A childhood learning disability that predisposes those afflicted to adolescent and adult depression and suicide risk. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22, 169-175.
29.
Ryan, R.M. (1992). Treatment resistant chronic mental illness: Is it Asperger's syndrome?Hospital and Community Psychiatry , 43, 807-811.
30.
Schoenherr, S.J., Brown, R.T., Baldwin, K., & Kaslow, N.J. (1992). Attributional styles and psychopathology in pediatric chronic-illness groups. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology , 21, 380-387.
31.
Seligman, M.E.P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. San Francisco: Freeman.
32.
Seligman, M.E.P. (1990). Learned optimism. New York : Knopf.
33.
Seligman, M.E.P., Abramson, L.Y., Semmel, A., & von Baeyer, C. (1979). Depressive attributional style. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 242-247.
34.
Seligman, M.E.P., Peterson, C., Kaslow, N.J., Tanenbaum, R.L., Alloy, L.B., & Abramson, L. (1984). Attributional style and depressive symptoms among children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 235-238.
35.
Seligman, M.E.P., Reivich, K., Jaycox, L., & Gillham, J. (1995). The optimistic child. New York : Houghton Mifflin.
36.
Sharp, V.F. (1979). Statistics for the social sciences. Boston: Little, Brown.
37.
Sverd, J., Sheth, R., Fuss, J., & Levine, J. (1995). Prevalence of pervasive developmental disorder in a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized children and adolescents. Child Psychiatry andHuman Development, 25, 221-240.
38.
Tantam, D. (1991). Asperger syndrome in adulthood. In U. Frith (Ed.), Autism and Asperger syndrome (pp. 147-183). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
39.
Taylor, G. (1997). Community building in schools: Developing a circle of friends. Educational and Child Psychology, 14, 3.
40.
Williams, K. (1995). Understanding the student with Asperger's syndrome: Guidelines for teachers. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 10(2), 9-16.
41.
Wing, L. (1981). Asperger's syndrome: A clinical account. Psychological Medicine, 11, 115-129.
42.
Wing. L. (1991). The relationship between Asperger's syndrome and Kanner's autism. In U. Frith (Ed.), Asperger and his syndrome (pp. 93-121). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
