Attributional style and learned helplessness: relationship to the use of causal schemata and depressive symptoms in children.

The attributional style associated with learned helplessness in children is examined in terms of its stability over a six-month period; impact on causal schemata used by children; and association with depressive symptoms. Seventy-three fifth grade children provided attributions for success and failure and were divided into learned helpless and mastery-oriented groups on the basis of the attributions typically associated with these response patterns. The attributional styles were relatively stable, influenced responses to stimuli used to investigate the use of causal schemata and were related to depressive symptoms. These results are discussed in terms of research on learned helplessness in children and several research questions are identified.