ACADEMIC FAILURE AND LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
Abstract
This study had the purpose to assess the relationship
between school failure, learned helplessness and depression in children
from low income families. Learned helplessness was assessed by
identifyng the subjects' attributional pattern for failure. These were
categorized into three causal dimensions: locus (internal or external),
constancy (stable or unstable) and cross-situational generality (global or
specific). Learned helplessness was defined as an attribution for failure
that was internal, stable and global. Causal attributions were emitted by the subjects in semi-structured interviews. Jn order to assess the
presence of depressive symptons, the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
was administered soon after the interview. The sample was composed of
60 2rd and 3rd grade, public school children from low income families.
Their ages ranged from 8 to 13. The subjects were previously classified
into two comparison groups according to their school performance as
follows: satisfactory performance SP (30 students with successive
promotions in school) and unsatisfactory performance UP (30 students
with two or more retentions in the grade). The results revealed a significant
relationship between school failure and learned helplessness as well as
between these two variables and depressive symptons. The qualitative
analysis of the results showed, among other things, a strong association
between school failure and the children's feelings of impotence towards
the external events that confront them.
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References
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