Cognitive approach in explaining depression

Question 1

What is Beck’s negative triad(1967)?

Answer 1

-negative view of self: “i am a failure” and contribute to low self-esteem
-negative view of world:world is a cold hard place and no hope
-negative view of the future: “no chance the economy will get better” which enhances depression and reduces hope

Question 2

What is a negative self-schema?

Answer 2

• schema = package of ideas and information developed through experience
  -negative self-schema are then that they interpret all information about themselves as negative

Question 3

What is faulty information processing?

Answer 3

-Attending to the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring the positives
-black and white thinking

Question 4

What is Ellis ABC model(1962)?

Answer 4

A- Activating event: events trigger irrational beliefs causing depression
B- Belief: irrational beliefs- Musturbation (perfection) and Utopianism (fairness)
C- consequences: irrational beliefs have many emotional and behavioural consequences

Question 5

What is the Evaluation for Becks negative triad?

Answer 5

-research support: David Clark and Aaron Beck (1999) concluded that not only were cognitive vulnerabilities more common in depressed people but that they preceded the depression.
Confirmed by a more recent study by Joseph Cohen et al. (2019) which tracked the development of 473 adolescents regularly measuring cognitive vulnerabilities and found their vulnerabilities predicted later depression

-Real world application in screening and treatment: Cohen et al. concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerabilities allowed them to screen young people and identify those in risk of later depression.
Also used in CBT to alter peoples cognitions which make them depressed.

Question 6

What is the evaluation for Ellis’ ABC model?

Answer 6

-Real world application: rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT) David et al. (2018): evidence to prove that REBT can both change negative beliefs and relieve symptoms of depression

-Reactive and endogenous depression: explains reactive depression because of activating events but cannot explain for depression that is not traceable by any events in out lives(endogenous depression) so may only be a partial explanation