An exploration of attributional style using the Descriptive Experience Sampling method

This study explored the association between cognitive style and depression. Phase I: 195 participants completed questionnaires that assessed cognitive style and psychological distress. Among these participants the expected relationships were found between depression, anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, attributional style, and rumination.;Phase II: Six participants selected based on their attributional style engaged in Descriptive Experience Sampling, which entails wearing a small device that will beep at random intervals, recording their awareness at the sound of the beep, and being interviewed within twenty-four hours of doing so. The inner experiences revealed by DES did not generally show the patterns suggested by current theories of depression. Two individuals who appeared to be at greatest risk for depression, one of whom was in the low risk group based on the Phase I screening data, did show signs of more negatively valenced inner experience and more thoughts consistent with Beck's cognitive theory of depression.