The role of learned helplessness in the onset of depression in obsessive compulsive personality disorder

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Robert Chester Faucette (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Rosemery Nelson-Gray

Abstract: The characterological predisposition hypothesis posits that certain personality features may predispose certain individuals to depression. The general hypothesis of the present study was that obsessive compulsive personality disordered analogues (given the excessive importance of autonomy, achievement, and especially, personal control in their lives) would be more vulnernable, that is, characterologically predisposed, to the debilitating effects of perceived uncontrollability (i.e., learned helplessness) than a normal control group and an Anxious-Fearful Cluster personality disorder control group comprised of avoidant, dependent, and passive-aggressive personality disordered analogues. A total of 136 subjects were selected for inclusion in the study based on their SCID-ll personality profiles and were administered a two-phase learned helplessness procedure patterned after Hiroto's (1974) and Hiroto and Seligman's (1975) studies. Furthermore, subjects were administered the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) to assess attributional predispositions to depression and level of self-esteem in the three diagnostic groups.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1994
Subjects
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Depression, Mental
Helplessness (Psychology)

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