The causal mediation and diathesis-stress hypotheses of the Hopelessness Theory of Depression were examined in the context of social relations, using a short-term prospective longitudinal design and a sample of 299 university undergraduates. / Partial empirical support was obtained for the causal mediation hypothesis. Inferential style dimensions were generally predictive of corresponding inferences made by participants for their single most upsetting future negative interpersonal event, although the magnitude of effect sizes observed for inferential style dimensions tended to be rather unimpressive, on the whole. Weak support was derived for an accompanying proposal that situationally-based judgements of consensus, consistency and distinctiveness are predictive of event attributions when attributional style dimensions are controlled for statistically. / In turn, equivocal support was obtained for the diathesis-stress hypothesis. Although some inferential style dimensions interacted with interpersonal stress in the hypothesized direction to predict increments in depression over time, other inferential style dimensions interacted with stress in a manner directly counter to theoretical expectations. Moreover, there was a lack of convincing evidence to support the notion that interactions of inferential style dimensions with interpersonal stress are specific in their effects to predicting an outcome of "Hopelessness Depression," as opposed to more general symptoms of depression. Implications of the findings for the Hopelessness Theory of Depression and future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: B, page: 4956. / Major Professor: Jack E. Hokanson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76735 |
| Contributors | Hummer, John Thomas., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 208 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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