While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability of depressive symptoms. Exploring these relationships may expand our understanding of how and when specific attributions begin and how they change. This information may be useful in developing treatments for depression that not only help the individual suffering with the disorder but also others around the individual who are affected.
","abstract_html":"<p>While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability of depressive symptoms. Exploring these relationships may expand our understanding of how and when specific attributions begin and how they change. This information may be useful in developing treatments for depression that not only help the individual suffering with the disorder but also others around the individual who are affected.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McDowell, Joan E."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Alida Westman, PhD","Michelle Byrd, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-03-24T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-03-24T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["Clinical Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/533","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Alida Westman, PhD","Michelle Byrd, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McDowell, Joan E."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-11-05T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Clinical Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/533"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability of depressive symptoms. Exploring these relationships may expand our understanding of how and when specific attributions begin and how they change. This information may be useful in developing treatments for depression that not only help the individual suffering with the disorder but also others around the individual who are affected.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Attributions others assign to depressed individuals and their relationship to severity of depressive symptoms, amount of contact, and familiarity with depressed individuals"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Carol Freedman-Doan, PhD","Alida Westman, PhD","Michelle Byrd, PhD"],"dc:creator":["McDowell, Joan E."],"dc:date.available":["2013-11-05T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["While there has been valuable research critical for furthering our understanding of how an individual's social network affects recovery from depression, we need to know more about the interplay of other people's attributions and their relationships with depressed individuals that may impact recovery from the disorder. This research investigated causal and controllability attributions that others assign to individuals with depression by distributing a questionnaire to faculty and administrative staff at Eastern Michigan University to obtain ratings of attributions for depression. The level of intimacy within a relationship and the severity of depression were related to others' beliefs about the controllability of depressive symptoms. Exploring these relationships may expand our understanding of how and when specific attributions begin and how they change. This information may be useful in developing treatments for depression that not only help the individual suffering with the disorder but also others around the individual who are affected.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/533"],"dc:subject":["Clinical Psychology"],"dc:title":["Attributions others assign to depressed individuals and their relationship to severity of depressive symptoms, amount of contact, and familiarity with depressed individuals"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}