Cog etiology

Question 1

Alloy aim

Answer 1

to investigate whether a particular cognitive style (pos or neg) in freshmen is associated w subsequent development of depressive symptoms

Question 2

Alloy method

Answer 2

quasi, longitudinal

Question 3

Alloy participants

Answer 3

non-depressed college freshmen

Question 4

Alloy procedure

Answer 4

• at the start of study, p were given a questionnaire that determined their cognitive style & split into 2 groups based on the results (low risk vs high risk for depression)
• p w a neg cognitive style (allocated to high risk) believed that neg life events were catastrophic & that the occurrence of such events meant that they were flawed or worthless
• p were then followed longitudinally for 5.5 yrs
• assessment included self-report measures & structured interviews

Question 5

Alloy results

Answer 5

• during the first 2.5 yrs of follow-up, high risk freshmen were more likely to develop MDD than low-risk freshmen
• high risk freshmen were more likely to develop suicidal thoughts & behaviour

Question 6

Alloy conclusion

Answer 6

neg cognitive styles may influence the development of MDD

Question 7

Caseras aim

Answer 7

to investigate whether attention to pos vs. neg stimuli is different in depressed vs non-depressed p

Question 8

Caseras method

Answer 8

quasi experiment; eye tracking tech was used to measure the variables

Question 9

Caseras participants

Answer 9

43 p recruited through a uni website

Question 10

Caseras procedure

Answer 10

• depressive symptoms were assessed using a questionnaire
• on the basis of the scores, p were split into 2 groups - those w depressive symptoms & those non-depressed
• p were shown a series of 32 picture pairs w neg, pos & neutral stimuli
• each of pictures present images of sadness & loss, whereas the pos pics showed ppl engaging in enjoyable activities
• using eye-tracking tech, researchers measured 2 components of visual attention
  
  • initial orienting (which of the 2 pics the p looks at initially) maintaining attention

Question 11

Caseras results

Answer 11

p w depressive symptoms demonstrated a bias in maintenance of attention to neg pics, but no differences were found in initial orienting

Question 12

Caseras conclusion

Answer 12

neg attention bias potentially is 1 of the mechanisms of MDD

Question 13

Cog theory of depression

Answer 13

• theory suggests that cog factors are the major cause of depression
• highlights the importance of automatic thoughts - the semi-conscious sub-vocal narrative that naturally occurs in ppls minds to accompany their daily activities
• main claim is that a change in automatic thoughts can lead to a change in behaviour
• the theory identifies 3 elements of depression
  
  1. the cognitive triad: neg self-beliefs, the world & future - these neg beliefs are deeply rooted & they influence automatic thought to be irrationally pessimistic
  2. neg self-schemata: when neg self-beliefs become generalised, ppl start seeing their own fault in everything that happens to them, even if they cannot control it
  3. faulty thinking patterns: these are logical fallacies & irrational conclusions that ppl make bc the way they process info is biased

Question 14

evaluation of cog theory

Answer 14

• strengths:
  
  • strong emperical support
  • patients in cog behavioural therapy are viewed as ppl who are responsible for their problems & have the power to solve them
  • a number of successful therapies have been built on the cog approach
• weaknesses
  
  • explanations have focused on the correlational nature of most of the research studies
  • difficult to differentiate between thinking which causes depression & thinking that is caused by depression

Question 15

Cog explanations for depression

Answer 15

• suggest that the patterns of information processing (how an individual processes various life events) influence the development of a disorder
• the core premise of the theory (idea that depression is linked to faulty thinking patterns) is supported by empirical research
  
  • the 2 examples → Alloy, Abraham & Francis(1997) & Caseras(2007)
• criticism of the empirical studies that support cognitive explanations for depression have focused on their correlational nature: it is difficult to seperate thinking that causes depression from thinking that is caused by depression
• however, major support for this area of research comes from the studies of cognitive behavioural therapy & its effectiveness compared to other methods of treatment