183 inpatient children and adolescents from 3 separate psychiatric hospitals completed the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) plus measures of control-related beliefs. In all 3 samples, the findings resembled those of previous studies: CDI scores were significantly related to low perceived competence and to contingency uncertainty; by contrast, CDI scores were only weakly related to perceived noncontingency. Findings suggest that depressive symptoms in children may be (1) more closely linked to 'personal helplessness' than to 'universal helplessness' and (2) more closely linked to uncertainty about the causes of events than to firm beliefs in noncontingency.