Study as to the validity of the Spanish version of Attributional Style Questionnaire for Negative Situations

Abstract

Negative explanatory style, defined as the tendency to explain negative events with internal, stable and global causes, has been associated with different negative emotions such as depression. For its assessment most studies employed the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Peterson et al, 1982). The objective of the current study was to analyze the construct and criterion validity of the Spanish version of the ASQ for negative situations. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis with data of 815 subjects showed that the questionnaire items fit a three-factor model, corresponding to three interrelated attributional dimensions. Moreover, both the attributional dimensions as well as a negative explanatory style correlated positively with depression and negative affect, and negatively with positive affect. According to these results, it is concluded that the questionnaire is valid and can be used with confidence.