Attributional Styles in Adolescents with Transfusion-dependent Thalassemia

Abstract

This study focused on the way that Adolescents with Transfusion-dependent thalassemia explained negative or positive events in their life (Attributional Styles). It is defined by three dimensions describing the cognitive appraisal of the events: internal-external, stable-unstable, and global-specific. With cross-sectional research design, the observations consist of 102 adolescents (48 males, 54 females) who diagnosed with Transfusion-dependent thalassemia (more than 50 times for blood transfusions) completed the measure of Attributional Styles and Anxiety Questionnaires. The correlations in the predicted directions among variables examine with Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, t-test, and One-way ANOVA to ascertain a significant between the group differences on attributional factors and levels of anxiety symptoms. The results show that Adolescent samples with higher levels of anxiety revealed statistically significant relationship among three negative attributional dimensions (overall composite F = 4.5, p < 0.05; negative composite F = 4.99, p < 0.01; negative-internality F = 4.99 p < 0.01; negative-stability F = 3.42, p < 0.05 and negative-globality F = 3.77, p < 0.05). In addition, significant age-group differences were found for the total negative-globality (t = 2.05, p < 0.05) and negative-globality (t = -2.22, p < 0.05). These data are consistent with the reformulated learned helplessness model of depression. In finding, the individuals who attribute negative life events to internal, stable, and global causes will be more vulnerable to anxiety than those who make external, unstable, and specific attributions. Most interestingly, those adolescents more than 17 years evidence more negative-globality attributional style than group less than 16 years, and female adolescents may influence this pattern. These results suggest that targeting Adolescents with Transfusion-dependent thalassemia may be important for improving aspect of coping on psychological adjustment to their chronic illness.