Dysphoric adolescents' causal explanations and expectancies for approach and avoidance goals

yRelatively little research has studied emotional disturbance from a motivational perspective. The current, personal goals, study aimed to investigate personal goal systems at different levels of analysis, namely. associated causal explanations and goal expectancies, as a function of dysphoria. Dysphoric (n = 28) and non-dysphoric (n = 28) adolescents (16-18-yr-olds) selected from a larger school sample completed tasks that measured number of approach goals and avoidance goals, causal explanations for goals, and perceived likelihood and control estimates for idiographic goals. As predicted dysphoric adolescents, relative to controls, generated a combination of more avoidance goals and fewer approach goals, and thought of more reasons that explain why goals would not be achieved and fewer reasons that explain why goals would be achieved (irrespective of goal type), and considered avoidance goal outcomes as more likely to occur and approach goal outcomes as less likely to occur. In addition, dysphoric adolescents anticipated less personal control in implementing their goals than controls. Overall, the data identified distinct personal goal systems that function differently in dysphoric and non-dysphoric adolescents. (c) 2005 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.