The Cognitive Roles of Dysfunctional Attitudes And Automatic Thoughts In Depression: A Study Of African-American College Students

Abstract

This study examined the diathesis- stress model of Beck's cognitive theory of depression. This model postulates that dysfunctional attitudes will interact with negative life events in the occurrence of depressive symptoms, while automatic thoughts will mediate the relationship between negative life events and the occurrence of depressive symptoms. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire, the Daily Hassles Scale, and the College Students Life Events Scale, were administered to 258 African- American students from a historically Black college in the Southeast of America. Data were analysed using multiple regression analyses. Results of the study revealed that automatic thoughts mediate in the relationship between negative life events and depression. However, dysfunctional attitudes did not mediate in the relationship between negative life events and the occurrence of depressive symptoms.



>IFE Psychologia (2002) 10(1), 60-71