Attributional Style in Shyness and Depression: Shared and Specific Maladaptive Patterns.

This research was designed to evaluate whether shyness and depression involve maladaptive attributional style (AS) patterns that are shared or specific, and whether AS mediates the shyness–depression relationship. Results showed that after controlling for overlap between general anxiety and depression, shyness was associated with a maladaptive AS for negative interpersonal events, but not for noninterpersonal events. Because measures of shyness and depression were not correlated, a test of the mediating role of AS was not possible. Regression analyses of individual causal dimensions showed that globality and controllability were uniquely related to shyness (but only for interpersonal events) and depression, while stability and locus were not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]