The Effects of childrens learned helplessness behaviors on depression levels

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between - depression and learned helplessness behavior- in children. The second aim was to examine different variables' relation to depression and to learned helplessness behavior. The sample for this study consisted of 404 normal children. 202 of them were fourth graders and 202 of them were fifth graders. There measures were used for investigation. The Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) was used to assess depression level of the children. Learned helplessness behavior of them was measured by Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ). An information form was used in order to determine the children's personal and familial characteristics. The obtained data was statistically analyzed by the use of variance analysis (F), the t-test and the chi-square (X2) technique. The results of the study support the learned helplessness model of depression: Learned helplessness behavior and depression in children correlated significantly with each other. The children - whose mean scores for depression were high - tended to score higher mean scores for learned helplessness than other Children. Socioeconomic and academic level, friendship relationships, self- perception and parental characteristics were the risk factors for childhood depression and learned helplessness behavior. Furthermore, the results of the study indicate that there was no effects of sex and grade differences on both measures.