A longitudinal study of the relationship between attributional style, life events, and depression in Japanese undergraduates.

A longitudinal design was used to investigate the relationship between attributional style, life events, and depression in Japanese undergraduates. The 1st hypothesis tested was that among those experiencing negative events, the students with a depressogenic attributional style would be more depressed than those with a nondepressogenic attributional style. The 2nd hypothesis tested was that among those experiencing positive events, the students with an enhancing attributional style would be less depressed than those with a nonenhancing attributional style. A total of 143 undergraduates responded to a depression scale, a life event questionnaire, and an attributional style questionnaire. The results, which generally supported the hypotheses, may reflect cultural differences between Japan and the United States.