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The Hopelessness Depression Symptom Questionnaire

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Abstract

Evaluated the Hopelessness Depression Symptom Questionnaire (HDSQ; Metalsky & Joiner, 1991). The HDSQ is a 32-item self-report measure of eight symptoms posited by L. Abramson, G. Metalsky, and L. Alloy (1989) to comprise a specific subtype of depression—hopelessness depression. Factor analytic results from 435 subjects suggested that: (a) Each of the eight subscales of the HDSQ reflects a distinct symptom of hopelessness depression; and (b) The eight subscales, taken together, reflect one higher-order construct—Hopelessness Depression Symptoms. Diathesis-stress results from a subset of 174 subjects indicated that the attributional diathesis × stress interaction predicted onset of hopelessness depression symptoms on the HDSQ but not nonhopelessness depression symptoms. The HDSQ should allow for enhanced precision in tests of the hopelessness theory of depression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lawrence University, USA

    Gerald I. Metalsky

  2. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, USA

    Thomas E. Joiner Jr.

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  1. Gerald I. Metalsky
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  2. Thomas E. Joiner Jr.
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Metalsky, G.I., Joiner, T.E. The Hopelessness Depression Symptom Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research 21, 359–384 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021882717784

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