The relationship among life events,dysfunctional attitudes,and depression

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate dysfunctional attitudes as a moderator variable in the relationship between negative life events and depression. On the basis of the cognitive model of depression it was predicted that, within a normal college student population, individuals who endorse highly dysfunctional attitudes would be more adversely affected by negative life stress than would their more functional counterparts. Normal and clinical college student groups were administered measures of life events, dysfunctional attitudes, and depression. As expected, in the normal sample, there was a significant interaction between dysfunctional attitudes and negative life stress, which was consistent with the cognitive model of depression. In the clinical sample, the interaction was nonsignificant, and both dysfunctional attitudes and negative life events were found to exert a more direct influence on mood. The implications of these findings for future research were reviewed, along with a suggestion that longitudinal designs might permit a more complete test of the cognitive model.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 1982. We would like to express our appreciation to Thomas M. Hess, Kenneth Hardy, and the anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments.