I think, therefore I am: a twin study of attributional style in adolescents.

BACKGROUND Parenting factors may be important to the development of attributional style in adolescence, which in turn relates to depression symptoms. These relationships have mainly been considered in terms of social risk mechanisms, and little is known about the role of genetic influences. METHOD Self-reported measures of attributional style, depression symptoms and parental disciplinary styles were administered to over 1300 adolescent twin and sibling pairs. Model-fitting techniques were used to examine the role of genetic and environmental influences. RESULTS Moderate genetic influences on attributional style were demonstrated, and furthermore, its association with depression reflected considerable genetic effects. Familial factors were implicated in the association between attributional style and punitive parenting, although genetic from shared environmental causes could not be distinguished. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that attributional style is influenced by genetic, as well as social factors. Implications for aetiological pathways integrating cognitive, genetic and social factors on adolescent depression are discussed.

[1]  D. Reiss,et al.  Family Environment and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms and Antisocial Behavior: A Multivariate Genetic Analysis. , 1996 .

[2]  E. Costello,et al.  Mood variability in adolescents: a study of depressed, nondepressed and comorbid patients. , 1991, Journal of affective disorders.

[3]  R Plomin,et al.  Gene–environment interaction analysis of serotonin system markers with adolescent depression , 2004, Molecular Psychiatry.

[4]  M. Seligman,et al.  Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. , 1978, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[5]  G. Metalsky,et al.  The hopelessness theory of depression: attributional aspects. , 1988, The British journal of clinical psychology.

[6]  I. Craig,et al.  GENESiS: creating a composite index of the vulnerability to anxiety and depression in a community-based sample of siblings. , 2000, Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies.

[7]  P. Sham,et al.  Parental familial vulnerability, family environment, and their interactions as predictors of depressive symptoms in adolescents. , 2004, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[8]  L. Abramson,et al.  Measuring Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression in Adolescence: Reliability, Validity, and Gender Differences , 2002, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[9]  T. Gladstone,et al.  Depression and attributions in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review , 1995, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[10]  D. Cohen,et al.  Reliably separating identical from fraternal twins. , 1975, Archives of general psychiatry.

[11]  J. Garber,et al.  Predictors of Depressive Cognitions in Young Adolescents , 2001, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[12]  I. Goodyer.  Family relationships, life events and childhood psychopathology. , 1990, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[13]  P. Cooper,et al.  Cognitive vulnerability to depression in 5-year-old children of depressed mothers. , 2001, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[14]  M. Seligman,et al.  Is optimism heritable? A study of twins. , 1993, Behaviour research and therapy.

[15]  J. Rasbash,et al.  Family settings and children's adjustment: differential adjustment within and across families , 2001, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[16]  L. Abramson,et al.  Developmental Origins of Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression: Parenting, Cognitive, and Inferential Feedback Styles of the Parents of Individuals at High and Low Cognitive Risk for Depression , 2001, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[17]  Matt McGue,et al.  Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex , 1984, Behavior genetics.

[18]  L. Abramson,et al.  A Prospective Test of the Hopelessness Theory of Depression in Adolescence , 2001, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[19]  L. Abramson,et al.  Development of gender differences in depression: an elaborated cognitive vulnerability-transactional stress theory. , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[20]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire—Revised: Psychometric examination. , 1998 .

[21]  F. Rice,et al.  Assessing the effects of age, sex and shared environment on the genetic aetiology of depression in childhood and adolescence. , 2002, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[22]  Josephine Key.  Perceptions of poor maternal care are associated with adolescent depression. , 1995, Journal of affective disorders.

[23]  E. Costello,et al.  Scales to assess child and adolescent depression: checklists, screens, and nets. , 1988, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.