Cognitive approach to explaining depression

Question 1

What 2 psychologists provided cognitive explanations for depression?

Answer 1

Ellis and Beck

Question 2

Who proposed the negative triad?

Answer 2

Beck

Question 3

Explain the 3 parts of the negative triad?

Answer 3

• Negative view of the world: They don’t see the world as having any hope. “The world is a hopeless place”
• Negative view of the future: Reduce any hope about the future ahead. “I will never be successful or get anywhere in life”
• Negative view of self: They reinforce the feeling of low self-esteem. “I am a failure”

Question 4

What is faulty information processing? (negative triad)

Answer 4

• Attending to the negative aspects of a situation.
• They ignore any positives within the situation.
• They further blow problems out of proportion and think in ‘black and white’.

Question 5

What is a negative self-schema? (negative triad)

Answer 5

• Interpretating all information about themselves in a negative way.

Question 6

What is a strength of Beck’s negative triad? - Supporting research

Answer 6

• Cognitive vulnerability: Thinking that may predispose people to becoming depressed.
• In a review, Clark and Beck found the CV was more common in depressed people but also preceded the depression.
• Was also shown in a study by Cohen et al: 473 adolescents monitered for CV, showing CV predicted later depression.

Question 7

What is a strength of Beck’s negative triad? - Real world application

Answer 7

• Applies to screening and treatment for depression.
• Cohen et al says that measuring cognitive vulnerablilty in adolescents allows them to see who is most at risk.
• Can also be applied to CBT to help alter cognitions making people vulnerable to depression.

Question 8

Who proposed the ABC model?

Answer 8

Ellis

Question 9

Explain the 3 parts of the ABC model?

Answer 9

A - Activating event: irrational thoughts are triggered by external events.
B - Beliefs
C - Consequences: when an event triggers a negtaive thought it leads to emotional and behavioural consequences.

Question 10

What is the key to the process according to the ABC model?

Answer 10

The irrational belief

Question 11

What is a strength of the ABC model? - Real world application

Answer 11

• Applies to the treatment of depression.
• Rational emotional behavioural therapy: arguing with a depressed personto alter the beliefs making them unhappy.
• Evidence shows it can relieve symptoms and change beliefs.

Question 12

What is a limitation of the ABC model? - Only explains reactive depression

Answer 12

• Sometimes depression is caused by events (reactive).
• Not all cases of depression are caused by traumatic events (endogenous depression).
• It is only a partial explanation of depression.