Oral pessimism and depressive symptoms: a comparison with other correlates of depression

The need to examine alternative explanations for findings in psychoanalytic theory is often suggested but rarely practised. The aim of the present study was to examine Lewis' (1993) prediction that oral pessimism is important to the aetiology of depression within the context of social psychological, cognitive and personality explanations of depression. One hundred and sixty Northern Irish university students completed measures of depressive symptoms, oral pessimism and oral optimism, optimism, neuroticism, coping style, attribution style and self-esteem. Results show that oral pessimism, neuroticism and the use of stable attributions are dominant in accounting for variance in a measure of depression and support Lewis' (1993) finding that oral pessimism is important in depressive symptoms.