Alloy et al (1999)

Question 1

Cognitive vulnerability hypothesis

Answer 1

There are maladaptive thinking patterns that make a person
more likely to develop a mental illness- negative thoughts are not likely to change and affect all
areas of one’s life

Question 2

Aim

Answer 2

to see how one’s cognitive style (thinking pattern) plays in the development of depression

Question 3

Procedure

Answer 3

Half of sample had history of clinical depression, other half did not, but no symptoms
were reflected at the beginning of the study
- Given a test to measure cognitive style and identified as either High Risk (HR) or Low
Risk (LR) for depression based on thinking patterns
- Follow up assessment for 5.5 years- combination of questionnaires and structured
interview to identify stressful life events, cognitive style and symptoms of depression
- Listened to a list of adjectives and asked whether that word described them and told to
recall list

Question 4

Results

Answer 4

• In the group with no prior history of depression, 17% of HR students developed Major
  Depressive Disorder, compared to only 1% of LR students.
• 29% of HR group showed symptoms of minor depression, compared to only 6% of LR
  group
• Those with past history, 27% of HR group relapsed whereas only 6% of LR group did
• Rate of suicidality was higher in the HR group compared to the LR group
• HR group remembered more negative adjectives

Question 5

Evaluation

Answer 5

Method and data triangulation- increasing credibility
- Measure of cognitive style was highly standardized
- Pre-test and post-test design diminished bidirectional ambiguity but still a quasiexperiment so no cause-and-effect relationship
- Link between cognitive style and depression may be more complex than the study
proposes
- The theory of cognitive vulnerability has been applied to therapy and is shown to be
effective