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Related Experiment Videos

Attributional lability in depression and paranoia.

Richard P Bentall1, Sue Kaney

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Manchester, UK. richard.bentall@man.ac.uk

The British Journal of Clinical Psychology
|December 22, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Attributional style in depression and paranoia is not fixed but changes with recent experiences. Both patient groups showed more labile attributional styles after a mild stressor compared to healthy individuals.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Psychopathology
  • Cognitive Bias

Background:

  • Attributional style significantly influences depression and paranoia.
  • Contrary to trait-based models, recent experiences can alter attributional style.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the lability of attributional style in paranoid and depressed patients.
  • To examine how mild stressors affect attributional style and contingency judgments.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed attributional style and contingency judgments in paranoid, depressed, and healthy participants.
  • Exposed participants to a mild stressor (insoluble anagram task).
  • Measured changes in attributional style and judgments post-stressor.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Paranoid patients initially exhibited low internality and high control judgments; depressed patients showed high internality and low control.
  • Following the stressor, both clinical groups demonstrated increased internality for negative events.
  • Paranoid participants also showed heightened control estimates after the anagram task.

Conclusions:

  • Attributional style is more malleable in individuals with depression and paranoia than in healthy controls.
  • Findings suggest attributional style's dynamic nature in psychopathology.
  • Implications for understanding and treating these conditions are discussed.