Kastan Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire – Revised (CASQ-R)

Abstract

The Kastan Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire – Revised (CASQ-R) is a widely utilized psychometric instrument designed to assess the characteristic way children explain the causes of positive and negative events. Developed based on the reformulated learned helplessness theory, the CASQ-R measures attributional tendencies across three orthogonal dimensions: internality versus externality, stability versus instability, and globality versus specificity.

This revised version is crucial for research investigating the relationship between a pessimistic attributional style and vulnerability to depressive symptoms in pediatric populations. The instrument includes both a child self-report form and a parallel parent-report form, allowing for the assessment of explanatory styles from multiple perspectives.

Keywords

Attributional Style, Explanatory Style, Learned Helplessness, Depression, Internal-External, Stable-Unstable, Global-Specific, Children, Psychological Assessment.

Authors

Nadine J. Kaslow, R. L. Tanenbaum, Martin E. P. Seligman, Mark Thompson, Bonnie Weiss, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the CASQ-R is to quantify a child’s typical pattern of causal explanations, especially when confronted with success or failure. This measurement is vital for testing the cognitive vulnerability model of depression, which posits that a pessimistic attributional style (attributing negative events to internal, stable, and global causes) predisposes individuals to future depressive episodes.

The instrument provides separate scores for positive events (P-scores) and negative events (N-scores), allowing researchers and clinicians to determine if a child exhibits a signature pessimistic or optimistic explanatory pattern. The original CASQ was revised to enhance its psychometric properties for broader clinical and research utility, particularly regarding its ability to predict the onset and severity of childhood depression.

Construct

The CASQ-R measures attributional style, a core concept within cognitive psychology derived from the work of Seligman and colleagues on learned helplessness. This style is defined by how individuals habitually explain the causes of events in their lives, particularly focusing on three bipolar dimensions:

• Locus (Internal vs. External): This dimension addresses whether the cause of an event is internal to the individual (e.g., effort, inherent skill) or external (e.g., environment, luck, other people).
• Stability (Stable vs. Unstable): This dimension determines whether the cause is perceived as permanent and recurring over time (stable) or temporary and transient (unstable).
• Globality (Global vs. Specific): This dimension assesses whether the cause affects all areas of life (global) or only the specific situation in which the event occurred (specific).

A high risk for depressive symptoms is consistently associated with a pattern where bad events are attributed to internal, stable, and global causes, while good events are attributed to external, unstable, and specific causes.

Validity

Initial studies established the construct validity of the CASQ-R by demonstrating predicted correlations with measures of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Specifically, scores reflecting a pessimistic attributional pattern significantly correlated with higher scores on instruments measuring childhood depression, supporting the theoretical link derived from the learned helplessness model.

Thompson, Kaslow, Weiss, and Nolen-Hoeksema (1998) provided a comprehensive psychometric examination of the revised instrument. They confirmed its utility, demonstrating that the CASQ-R possesses adequate criterion validity by differentiating between clinically depressed and non-depressed youth. Furthermore, the instrument’s validity is supported by its ability to predict future depressive symptoms, suggesting strong predictive validity, especially when focusing on the composite negative score.

Reliability

Reliability analyses for the CASQ-R generally show acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) for the composite scores, though consistency for the individual subscales (Internal, Stable, Global) can sometimes be lower, which is a common methodological finding for attributional measures, likely due to the domain-specific nature of causal explanations.

Studies typically report acceptable test-retest reliability over short intervals, confirming the relative stability of the explanatory style trait in children. The overall composite score, which combines the three dimensions for negative events (Composite Negative Attributional Style), consistently demonstrates the most robust reliability and is therefore the preferred metric for research purposes.

Factor Analysis

While the CASQ-R is theoretically structured around three orthogonal dimensions (Internal-External, Stable-Unstable, Global-Specific), empirical factor analyses often struggle to perfectly replicate this three-factor structure when using standard analytic techniques in child populations. Some research has indicated that the stability and globality dimensions tend to correlate strongly or load together, sometimes suggesting a simpler two-factor model encompassing personal causality and pervasiveness/permanence.

Despite mixed results regarding the strict factor structure derived purely empirically, the scale maintains its theoretical scoring based on the three dimensions. This adherence is necessary as these dimensions are fundamental components required to test the specific predictions of the reformulated learned helplessness model concerning the development of depression.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire (Child Version) and Observer-report questionnaire (Parent Version)

Format: Forced-choice questionnaire consisting of 24 hypothetical events (12 positive and 12 negative). Respondents select one of two possible causal explanations for each event.

Language Available: English (Original), with various international translations available in academic literature.

Population Group: Children and Adolescents, and their parents/caregivers.

Age Group: Typically 8 to 13 years old (School-age children).

Population Details: Used extensively in both non-clinical samples to identify risk factors and in clinical samples of youth diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders.

Test Methodology: The scoring system assigns a value (typically 0 or 1) based on whether the selected attribution reflects a pessimistic or optimistic style across the three dimensions (Internal, Stable, Global). Total scores are calculated for positive events (P-CASQ) and negative events (N-CASQ), and often combined into a composite score (P-CASQ minus N-CASQ).

Keywords

Psychological Assessment, Attribution Theory, Cognitive Vulnerability, Child Depression, Learned Helplessness, Explanatory Style.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: N/A

Affiliation Email addresses: N/A

Correspondence Address: N/A

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The initial concept for the scale was documented in an unpublished manuscript in 1978 (Kaslow, Tanenbaum, & Seligman). The revised version (CASQ-R) underwent formal psychometric review and publication in 1998 (Thompson et al.). The instrument is commonly used for non-commercial academic research. Researchers seeking to utilize the CASQ-R should consult the primary authors or the institutions involved in its development (e.g., University of Pennsylvania, Emory University) to confirm current usage permissions and potential licensing fees for clinical applications.

Reference’s

The original PDF detailing this instrument can be downloaded here: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/35468014.pdf

• Kaslow, N. J., Tanenbaum, R. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1978). The KASTAN-R: A children’s attributional style questionnaire (KASTAN-R-CASQ). Unpublished manuscript, University of Pennsylvania.
• Seligman, M. E. P., Peterson, C., Kaslow, N. J., Tanenbaum, R. L., Alloy, L. B., & Abramson, L. Y. (1984). Attributional Style and Depressive Symptoms Among Children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93(2), 235-238.
• Gladstone, T. R. G., & Kaslow, N. J. (1995). Depression and attributions in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(5), 597-606. doi:10.1007/bf01447664.
• Thompson, M., Kaslow, N. J., Weiss, B., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire-Revised: Psychometric examination. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 166-170. doi:10.1037//1040-3590.10.2.166.
• Healey, Dione. (2005). Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Creativity: An investigation into their relationship. Dissertation, Doctoral dissertation.

Items of the Kastan Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire – Revised (CASQ-R)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Children’s Version

1. You get an “A” on a test.
   • A. I am smart.
   • B. I am good in the subject that the test was in.
2. Some kids that you know say that they do not like you.
   • A. Once in a while people are mean to me.
   • B. Once in a while I am mean to other people.
3. A good friend tells you that he hates you.
   • A. My friend was in a bad mood that day.
   • B. I wasn’t nice to my friend that day.
4. A person steals money from you.
   • A. That person is not honest.
   • B. Many people are not honest.
5. Your parents tell you that something that you make is very good.
   • A. I am good at making some things.
   • B. My parents like some things I make.
6. You break a glass.
   • A. I am not careful enough.
   • B. Sometimes I am not careful enough.
7. You do a project with a group of kids and it turns out badly.
   • A. I don’t work well with the people in that particular group.
   • B. I never work well with groups.
8. You make a new friend.
   • A. I am a nice person.
   • B. The people that I meet are nice.
9. You have been getting along well with your family.
   • A. I am usually easy to get along with when I am with my family.
   • B. Once in a while I am easy to get along with when I am with my family.
10. You get a bad grade in school.
    • A. I am not a good student.
    • B. Teachers give hard tests.
11. You walk into a door and you get a bloody nose.
    • A. I wasn’t looking where I was going.
    • B. I have been careless lately.
12. You have a messy room.
    • A. I did not clean my room that day.
    • B. I usually do not clean my room.
13. Your mother makes you your favorite dinner.
    • A. There are a few things that my mother will do to please me.
    • B. My mother usually likes to please me.
14. A team that you are on loses a game.
    • A. The team members don’t help each other when they play together.
    • B. That day the team members didn’t help each other.
15. You do not get your chores done at home.
    • A. I was lazy that day.
    • B. Many days I am lazy.
16. You go to an amusement park and you have a good time.
    • A. I usually enjoy myself at amusement parks.
    • B. I usually enjoy myself in many activities.
17. You go to a friend’s party and you have fun.
    • A. Your friend usually gives good parties.
    • B. Your friend gave a good party that day.
18. You have a substitute teacher and she likes you.
    • A. I was well behaved during class that day.
    • B. I am almost always well behaved during class.
19. You make your friends happy.
    • A. I am usually a fun person to be with.
    • B. Sometimes I am a fun person to be with.
20. You put a hard puzzle together.
    • A. I am good at putting puzzles together.
    • B. I am good at doing many things.
21. You try out for a sports team and do not make it.
    • A. I am not good at sports.
    • B. The other kids who tried out are very good at sports.
22. You fail a test.
    • A. All tests are hard.
    • B. Only some tests are hard.
23. You hit a home run in a ball game.
    • A. I swung the bat just right.
    • B. The pitcher threw an easy pitch.
24. You do the best in your class on a paper.
    • A. The other kids in my class did not work hard on their papers.
    • B. I worked hard on the paper.

Parent Version

1. Your child gets an A on a test
   • A. My child is smart.
   • B. My child is good in the subject that the lest was in.
2. Some kids that your child knows say that they do not like your child.
   • A. Once in a while people are mean to my child.
   • B. Once in a while my child is mean to other people.
3. A good friend tells your child that he/she hates your child.
   • A. My child’s friend was in a bad mood that day.
   • B. My child wasn’t nice to his/ her friend that day.
4. A person steals money from your child.
   • A. That person is dishonest.
   • B. People are not honest.
5. Your praise something that your child makes.
   • A. My child is good at making some things.
   • B. I like some things my child makes.
6. Your child breaks a glass.
   • A. My child is not careful enough.
   • B. Sometimes my child is not careful enough.
7. Your child gels a bad grade in school.
   • A. My child is not a good student.
   • B. Teachers give unfair tests.
8. Your child makes a new friend.
   • A. My child is a nice person.
   • B. The people that my child meets are nice.
9. Your child has been getting along well with your family.
   • A. My child is easy to get along with when with my family
   • B. Once in a while my child is easy to get along with when with my family.
10. Your child does a project with a group of kids and it turns out badly.
    • A. My child doesn’t work well with the people in the group.
    • B. My child never works well with a group.
11. Your child walks into a door and gets a bloody nose.
    • A. My child wasn’t looking where he/she was going.
    • B. My child has been careless lately.
12. Your child has a messy room.
    • A. My child did not clean his/her room that day.
    • B. My child usually does not clean his/her room.
13. You make your child’s favorite dinner.
    • A. There are a few things that I will do to please my child.
    • B. I like to please my child.
14. A team that your child is on loses a game.
    • A. The team members don’t play well together.
    • B. That day the team members didn’t play well together.
15. Your child does not get the chores done at home.
    • A. My child was lazy that day.
    • B. Many days my child is lazy.
16. Your child goes to an amusement park and has a good time.
    • A. My child usually enjoys him/her self at amusement parks.
    • B. My child usually enjoys him/her self.
17. Your child goes to a friend’s party and has fun.
    • A. My child’s friend gives good parties.
    • B. My child’s friend gave a good party that day.
18. Your child has a substitute teacher and he/she likes your child.
    • A. My child was well behaved during class that day.
    • B. My child is almost always well behaved during class.
19. Your child makes his/her friends happy.
    • A. My child is a fun person to be with.
    • B. Sometimes my child is a fun person to be with.
20. Your child puts a hard puzzle together.
    • A. My child is good at putting puzzles together.
    • B. My child is good at doing many things.
21. Your child tries out for a sports team and does not lake it.
    • A. My child is not good at sports.
    • B. The other kids who tried out are very good at sports.
22. Your child fails a test.
    • A. All tests are hard.
    • B. Only some tests are hard.
23. Your child hits a home run in a ball game.
    • A. My child swung the bat just right.
    • B. The pitcher threw an easy pitch.
24. Your child does the best in his/her class on a paper.
    • A. The other kids in my child’s class did not work hard on their papers.
    • B. My child worked hard on the paper.