Anxiety and sadness-depression: An approximation from the perspective of the helplessness-hopelessness theory.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to analyse the constructs of anxiety and sadness-depression from the perspective of the helplessness-hopelessness theory. Two hundred twenty-nine adults completed five self-reported measures: The Anxiety Situations and Responses Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Tridimensional Depression Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Attributional Style Questionnaire. The results of correlation analysis and regression models showed strong associations between the different components of anxiety and depression. Moreover, negative attributional style significantly predicted anxiety and depression, especially the cognitive dimension of these constructs, for both female and male participants. We concluded that these emotions share a common element: a characteristic attributional style related to a broader construct, the «negative emotionality», that includes both anxiety and depression.