COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ATTRIBUTIONAL STYLE AND SUCCESS-FAILURE ATTRIBUTIONS OF HEALTHY AND CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN.
Contributors: University of Pennsylvania. School of Nursing.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 175
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was designed to investigate attributional patterns of healthy and chronically ill children to determine whether these patterns are associated with level of health. Seventy healthy children and fifty-four children with cystic fibrosis, ages seven to sixteen years, were interviewed and given questionnaires to evaluate attributional styles and success-failure attributions.

There were several research hypotheses. The first hypothesis, that attributional style would be related to level of health, was not supported. The second hypothesis was that there would be associations between chronic illness, negative affect (depression), and causal attributions, as shown through the success-failure attributions made by healthy and ill children. This hypothesis was partially supported. Contrary to the third hypothesis, that healthy children would perceive more success in various areas of their lives than would children with CF, overall differences were not found. Finally, it was assumed that the comparable attributional dimension scales from the two measures used would correlate significantly. This did not occur.

The common belief that children with a chronic illness such as cystic fibrosis are subjected to more stress and therefore demonstrate more negative affect than healthy children is questionable in light of these findings. Research has shown strong attribution-affect linkages. This study did not find the expected differences in attributional patterns associated with negative affect reported in the psychological literature on cystic fibrosis. These results suggest that children with a chronic disease may not respond as negatively as feared, either in attributions or affect.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-04, Section: B, page: 1115.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL OF NURSING, 1984.

School code: 0839.