Group Administration of the Children's Attributional Style Interview

Abstract

Research testing the reformulated theory of learned helplessness has been limited by the psychometric properties of instruments used to measure children's attributional style. Thus, the goal of this investigation was to modify a relatively new measure of attributional style that has demonstrated strong psychometric properties with young children and test its psychometric properties in a group administration with a sample of 238 fifth- and sixth-grade children. Results revealed strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability, significant correlations with another measure of attributional style, depressive symptoms, optimism, learned helplessness, and a factor structure that was consistent with theory. Overall, these results provide initial support for the use of a modified paper-and-pencil version of the Children's Attributional Style Interview in a group-administered format for children as young as fifth and sixth grade.

This article is based on a thesis by Sandra Yu Rueger submitted to Northern Illinois University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the master of arts degree in clinical psychology. We acknowledge the contributions to this research made by Dr. Gregory Waas and Dr. Laura Pittman. We also thank the schools and students who participated in this research, the businesses in the community who supported this research with their donations, and all the “Maleckaray Labsters” who helped with data collection and data entry. Finally, a special thank-you belongs to Dr. Beth Haines for so generously sharing her knowledge and previous work with the CASI. A copy of the CASI-II can be requested by contacting Sandra Yu Rueger.

Notes

Note. n = 48 for test–retest reliability analysis. CI = Children's Attributional Style Interview–II (CASI—II); CQ = Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire–Revised (CASQ—R); CDI = Children's Depression Inventory (depressive symptoms); LOT–R = Life Orientation Test–Revised (dispositional optimism); SBC–LH = Student Behavior Checklist–Learned Helplessness Subscale; FT = Full Total; FN = Full Negative; FP = Full Positive; GN = Generality Negative; GP = Generality Positive.

^a r = correlations between Time 1 CASI–II scores and Time 2 CASI–II scores.

∗p < .05. ∗∗p < .01.

CFI = comparative fit index; RMSEA = root mean square error of approximation.