Mood Disorders and Suicide 205
In fact, people who consistently make global and stable attributions for nega-tive events—whether to internal or external causes—are more likely to feel hopeless
in the face of negative events and come to experience hopelessness depression, a
form of depression in which hopelessness is a central element (Abramson, Metalsky, &
Alloy, 1989). Such people expect (1) that undesirable outcomes will occur (and that
desirable ones won’t) and (2) that they are helpless to change the situation. How-
ever, it is the depressive attributional style in conjunction with negative events that
elicits hopelessness (Hankin et al., 2004). That is, the attributional style alone won’t
necessarily lead to depression; it is only when an individual with this style experi-
ences negative events that depression is likely to follow. For instance, hopelessness
depression is more common among those who experienced emotional abuse during
childhood (Gibb et al., 2001).
Learned Helplessness
Hopelessness depression is not always based on incorrect attributions. It can
arise from situations in which, in fact, undesirable outcomes do occur and the in-
dividualis helpless to change the situation, such as the situation of children who
experience physical abuse or neglect (Widom, Dumont, & Czaja, 2007). Such
circumstances lead to learned helplessness, in which a person gives up trying to
change or escape from a negative situation (Overmier & Seligman, 1967; see
Chapter 2 for a more detailed discussion and technical defi nition). For example,
people in abusive relationships might become depressed if they feel that they can-
not escape the relationship and that no matter what they do, the situation will
not improve.
Social Factors
Depression is also associated with a variety of social factors, including stressful life
events (such as in personal relationships), social exclusion, and social interactions
(which are affected by culture). These social factors can affect whether depression
develops or persists.
Stressful Life Events
In approximately 70% of cases, an MDE occurs after a signifi cant life stressor, such
as getting fi red from a job or losing an important relationship. Such events are
particularly likely to contribute to a fi rst or second depressive episode (American
Psychiatric Association, 2000; Lewinsohn et al., 1999; Tennant, 2002).
It might seem obvious that negative life events can lead to depression, butseparating possible confounding factors and trying to establish causality have chal-
lenged researchers. For instance, people who are
depressed (or have symptoms of depression) may
have difficulty doing their job effectively; they
may experience stressors such as problems with
their coworkers and supervisors, job insecurity,
or financial worries. In such cases, the depres-
sive symptoms may causethe stressful life events.
Alternatively, some people, by virtue of their
temperament, may seek out situations or experi-
ences that are stressful; for example, some soldiers
volunteer to go to the front line (Foley, Neale, &
Kendler, 1996; Lyons et al., 1993). The point is
that the relationship between stressful life events
and depression may not be as straightforward as
it might seem.
In a longitudinal study examining the rela-tionship between stressful life events and depres-
sion among teenagers, researchers found that
participants who had three or more stressful life
events in the previous year were more likely to
P SNP SNResearchers are trying to interpret the cor-
relation between stressful life events and
depression. Although stressful events may lead
to depression, the symptoms of depression—
such as a lack of energy, social isolation, and
reduced productivity at work—can create
stressful events. For instance, a man who is
self-employed may be unable to maintain his
usual level of work, so his income drops and
fi nancial worries increase.Bonnie Kamin/Photo Edit