Cognitive Approach To Explaining Depression - A03 Flashcards
A strength of Beck’s explanation that faulty information processing is linked to depression is that there is supportive evidence that this predisposes people to become depressed.
E – Clark and Beck (1999) did a literature review, which concluded that these were more common in depressed people and also preceded symptoms.
E – In a prospective study by Cohen et al (2019) this was supported, which tracked 473 adolescents. It confirmed that cognitive vulnerability later predicted depression.
L – This temporal precedence of cognitive vulnerability’s evidence supports the association that cognitive vulnerability could lead to depression symptoms.
A strength of Beck’s cognitive model of depression is its application in screening and treatment for depression.
E – Cohen et al (2019) discovered that the ability to identify cognitive vulnerability in high-risk people before the onset of depressive symptoms, allowed them to be monitored. It offered treatment in the acute phase of the expression of symptoms.
E – This application of an understanding of cognitive vulnerability also supports CBT, which is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Gautum (2020) stated that research has been found consistently that CBT is one of the most effective depression treatments as it challenges irrational thoughts and beliefs.
L – Therefore this evidence supports the application of Beck’s model to early treatment intervention strategies as well as screening.
A strength of the cognitive explanation of depression is that negative manipulation of cognition can exacerbate symptoms.
E – Boury et al (2001) discovered that patients suffering from depression were more likely to misinterpret information negatively, which is cognitive bias. They felt more hopeless about their future, which is part of the cognitive triad.
E – Also supported by Bates et al. (1999), this demonstrates the presence of altered cognitive. They gave patients with depression negative automatic thought statements to read and found that their symptoms became worse.
L – Therefore these findings support the components of Beck’s theory and how negative thinking is involved in depression. It demonstrates that by manipulating cognition in both positive treatment and negative connections, the expected change occurs in symptoms.
A limitation of the cognitive explanation of depression can be criticised for being reductionist, as it only considers the role if thinking as the cause of depression.
E – It argues that depression is due to thinking in an irrational or negative way, such as mustabatory thinking, but it doesn’t take into account for other symptoms such as extreme anger.
E – This ignores the assumption that biological research indicates that depression can be a result of low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin and also that SSRIs can be effective treatments.
L – Therefore, the cognitive approach can be seen as too simplistic because it doesn’t account for all depressive phenomena. Other approaches should be considered offering a more holistic view of depression.
A limitation of Ellis’ ABC model is that it only explains reactive depression, but not endogenous depression.
E – The response we have to what Ellis conceives of as ‘activating events’, which consist of events that could trigger depression, are more likely to be partly affected by our beliefs. However, a lot of depression cases aren’t traceable to specific life events and the precipitating cause isn’t readily identifiable.
E – This is known as ‘endogenous depression’ and Ellis’ ABC is less effective in explaining this.
L – This means that Ellis’ model can only explain a few depression cases. Therefore, it’s only a partial explanation.
