[Comparative analysis of attributional style and self-esteem in a sample of depressed patients and normal control subjects].

Introduction: The present study assesses the role of attributions and self-esteem in depressive states. In depression, attributions can become central biased coping mechanisms that guide individual behavior.

Methods: Self-esteem and attribution bias was assessed in 40 depressed and 80 normal controls.

Results: Results of this investigation show that depressed patients made more internal attributions to negative events, and more external attributions for positive events than their normal counterparts, confirming an exaggerated attributional bias.

Conclusions: The results suggest that depressed patients tend to blame themselves for their mistakes. Depressed patients made more stable and global attributions for negative events than for positive events, as opposed to what happens with the normal controls, making us believe that this bias will be maintained in time, and will eventually generalize to other life areas. This kind of study seems useful to develop efficient treatment programs and evaluation tools of depression.