1.2.2 Explanations of mood (affective) disorders: depressive disorder (unipolar)

Question 1

Cognitive explanations

What is another term for irrational thinking?

Answer 1

Cognitive distortion.

Question 2

Beck (1979) - Cognitive explanations

Beck’s negative triad

Answer 2

These are negative views of oneself, the world and the future.

These 3 interact to form depression.

They become an automatic way of thinking, info is processed in a negative way.

Question 3

Cognitive explanations

According to this explanation, what does cognitive distortion lead to?

Answer 3

The emotional, cognitive and behavioural symptoms of depression.

Question 4

Learned helplessness and attribution style - Cognitive explanations

Learned helplessness

Answer 4

When a person becomes passive because they feel they are not in control of their lives.

They have tried and failed in the past and have now ‘learnt’ to fail, causing depression.

Question 5

Learned helplessness and attribution style - Cognitive explanations

According to this theory, what will constantly failing exams etc. that are too hard or you are not prepared for cause?

Answer 5

Depression.

Question 6

Learned helplessness and attribution style - Cognitive explanations

According to this theory, always being told you are doing something wrong leads to what?

Answer 6

You learning to be helpless, since you feel like a failure.

Question 7

Learned helplessness and attribution style - Cognitive explanations

Attribution style

Answer 7

If your past experiences have been negative, you are likely to develop a negative attribution style.

This means you will constantly view things that happen as internal, stable and global.

Question 8

Learned helplessness and attribution style - Cognitive explanations

With a negative attribution style, how do you constantly view things?

Answer 8

• Internal = it’s your fault.
• Stable = it’s always going to be like this.
• Global = more things will go wrong for you in the future.

Question 9

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

Aim

Answer 9

To replicate previous research showing a positive correlation between depressive attributional style and severity of depressive symptoms.

Question 10

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

Who were the ppts?

What did they complete?

Answer 10

Mood-disordered ppts completed the BDI and a questionnaire measuring attributions relating to 12 positive and negative events.

Question 11

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

Attributional style questionnaire

Answer 11

12 hypothetical good/bad events and the ppts had to make casual attributions for each and then rate each on a 7-point scale for internality, stability and globality.

Question 12

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

Which groups of patients were found to have more pessimistic, negative and attributional styles?

Answer 12

The bipolar and unipolar ppts compared to the non-patient, control group.

Question 13

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

What did the depression score on the BDI positively correlated with?

Answer 13

The pessimism on the attributional style questionnaire.

Question 14

Seligman et al. (1988) - Cognitive explanations

Conclusions

Answer 14

People with mood disorders tend to make internal, global and stable attributions about negative events, but this tendency can be altered in therapy.

Question 15

Bio-chemical - Biological explanations

Serotonin

Answer 15

A neurotransmitter which regulates sleep, appetite and mood.

When serotonin levels are normal, then mood and anxiety levels are balanced.

Question 16

Bio-chemical - Biological explanations

Low serotonin

Answer 16

Low mood, anxiety and disruption to sleep and eating which are symptoms of depression.

Question 17

Bio-chemical - Biological explanations

How do common antidepressants work?

Answer 17

Like SSRIs, by increasing serotonin levels.

Question 18

Bio-chemical - Biological explanations

Dopamine

Answer 18

A neurotransmitter which carries signals in parts of the brain responsible for feelings/motivation.

Question 19

Bio-chemical - Biological explanations

Low dopamine

Answer 19

Motivation and mood is low.

Question 20

Genetic explanations

First-degree relatives

Answer 20

Parents, siblings etc. who share 50% of their DNA.

Question 21

Genetic explanations

If mental disorders have a genetic basis like this explanation argues, what does this mean?

Answer 21

Mental disorders can be transmitted from one generation to the next.

Question 22

Genetic explanations

What did McGuffin et al. (1996) find out about twins and depression?

Answer 22

He examined 214 pairs of twins where at least one was being treated for depression.

He reported that in 46% of MZ twins and 20% of DZ twins, the other twin also had a diagnosis.

Criticisms of this are that the concordance rate is not 100 and also environmental factors may have played a part.

Question 23

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Aim

Answer 23

To investigate whether the genes encoding for certain serotonin receptors and serotonin transporters could be involved in suceptibility to bipolar disorder.

Question 24

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Participants

Answer 24

• 42 people with bipolar disorders.
• 40 people with no health/mental disorders.
• Aged 31-70 years-old.
• 25 female, 17 male.
• From 2 Croatian hospitals.

Question 25

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Method

Answer 25

Correlational study with a matched pairs design.

Question 26

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

How were ppts matched?

Answer 26

Ppts in the control group matched the patients in the other group in terms of age and gender.

Question 27

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Why were DNA tests carried out?

Answer 27

To test for polymorphisms in serotonin receptor (5-HTR2c) and the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) genes.

Question 28

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

How were ppts tested for their genes?

Answer 28

Using a DNA test.

Question 29

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Polymorphisms

Answer 29

A variation in a gene.

Rather than saying ‘mutation’ which suggests a unique change, polymorphisms refer to the different expressions that may be present in a normal population, even if that expression occurs infrequently.

Question 30

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Why were the 5-HTR2c and 5-HTT genes chosen to be tested?

Answer 30

Since alteration in them can lead to disturbance in specific biochemical pathways, with known links to depressive disorders.

Question 31

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

In the bipolar group, what percentage had at least 1 first-degree relative with a mood disorder?

What was this compared to with the control group.

Answer 31

38%.

Compared to 0% in the control group.

Question 32

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

When were the S and 1 alleles more common?

Answer 32

In diagnosed females than healthy female controls.

Question 33

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Sexually dimorphic

Answer 33

Any difference between males/females of any species which are not just differences in organs or genitalia.

These differences are cause by inheriting either male or female patterns of genetic material.

Question 34

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Conclusion

Answer 34

S and 1 variants of the 5-HTR2c and 5-HTT genes may increase depression risk in females.

Question 35

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Strengths

Answer 35

• Valid = 2 experienced psychiatrists verified whether ppts had bipolar or not using a structured interview schedule.
• Reliable = other studies had the sam results for both genes. e.g. Gutierrez et al. (1996).
• Objective = DNA tests were analysed in a lab setting with automated equipment and so could not be biased.

Question 36

ORUC ET AL. (1997)

Criticisms

Answer 36

• Subjective = self-report questionnaires could lead to demand characteristics/social desirability bias.
• Correlational = cause/effect could not be determined.
• Low generalisability = limited sample size and age was an extraneous variable.

Question 37

Issues and debates

How is the biological explanation deterministic?

How does Oruc’s study conflict this?

Answer 37

We cannot change our DNA.

However, Oruc’s findings show a small genetic susceptibility for females, so there must be other causes of the disorder.

Question 38

Issues and debates

Which side of the nature/nurture debate does the biological explanation support?

Answer 38

The nature side.

Question 39

Issues and debates

Which side of the individual/situational explanation does the cognitive explanation support?

Answer 39

LH nad attribution style develop due to an individual’s interaction with the environment, making it an individual explanation.

The approach also explain depression as the individual’s dysfunctional thinking, rather than due to their upbringing.

Question 40

Issues and debates

Is the biological approach reductionist or holistic?

Why?

Answer 40

Very reductionist in its account for depression, since it only focuses on serotonin and genes.

This is scientific, but doesn’t account for all instances of depression or why not all first-degree realtive develop the same disorder.