cognitive approach to explaining depression Flashcards
name the 2 cognitive approaches to explaining depression
- beck’s negative triad
- ellis’s ABC model
who devised beck’s negative triad
beck (1967)
what does beck’s negative triad triad explain
- why people are more vulnerable to depression than others
- it is a person’s cognitions that create this vulnerability
beck (1967) suggested 3 parts to this cognitive vulnerability
- faulty information processing
- negative self-schema
- negative triad
describe 1) faulty information processing
- depressed people attend to negative aspects of situation & ignore positives
- tend towards ‘black-and-white’ thinking
describe 2) negative self-schema
- self-schema = package of information people have about themselves
- use schema to interpret world
- negative self-schema = interpret all information about themselves negatively
describe 3) the negative triad
- beck suggested people develop dysfunctional views of themselves due to 3 types of negative thinking (negative triad) which happen automatically
- when someone’s depressed, they experience negative thoughts of themself, the world & the future:
1) negative view of the world (eg. ‘world is cold & hard place’) = creates impression there is no hope anywhere
2) negative views of future (eg. ‘there isn’t any chance the economy will get better’) = reduce hopefulness & enhance depression
3) negative view of self (eg. ‘i am a failure’) = enhance existing depressive feelings as confirm existing emotions of low self-esteem
who suggested ellis’s ABC model
ellis (1962)
what did ellis (1962) suggest
- proposed good mental health is result of rational thinking
- anxiety/depression (poor mental health) due to irrational thoughts = any thoughts that intefere with being happy & free from pain
what is ABC in the model
A = activating event
B = beliefs
C = consequences
what did ellis use the ABC model to explain
how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour & emotional state
describe A in the model (activating event)
- irrational thoughts triggered by external events
- become depressed when we experience negative events, which trigger irrational beliefs
- eg. failing important test, ending relationship
describe B in the model (beliefs)
- range of irrational beliefs
- belief we must always succeed/achieve perfection = musturbation
- ‘i-can’t-stand-it-itis’ = belief it’s a major disaster whenever something goes wrong
- utopianism = belief that life is always meant to be fair
describe C in the model (consequences)
- when activating event triggers irrational beliefs, there’s emotional & behavioural consequences
- eg. if person believes they must always succeed & fails important test, this triggers depression
beck’s cognitive model of depression AO3 +) existing research to support
E:
- ‘cognitive vulnerability’ refers to ways of thinking that predispose person to becoming depressed
- clark & beck (1999) concluded, in a review, that these cognitive vulnerabilities were more common in depressed people, but they preceded the depression
- confirmed in recent prospective study by cohen et al. (2019) = tracked development of 473 adolescents, regularly measured cognitive vulnerability & found showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression
T: shows there’s an association between cognitive vulnerability & depression
beck’s cognitive model of depression AO3 +) real-world application in screening & treatment for depression
E:
- cohen et al. (2019) concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerability allows psychologists to screen young people & identify those at risk of developing future depression/monitor them
- understanding cognitive vulnerability also applied in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) as these alter the cognitions which make people vulnerable to depression, making them more resilient in everyday life
T: means an understanding of cognitive vulnerability is useful in more than 1 aspect of clinical practice
ellis’s ABC model AO3 +) real-world application in psychological treatment of depression
E:
- elllis’s approach to cognitive therapy is called rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)
- vigorously arguing with a depressed individual allows therapist to alter irrational beliefs causing their depression
- evidence to support idea that REBT can change negative beliefs & relieve depressive symptoms (david et al. 2018)
T: means REBT has real-world value & is useful
ellis’s ABC model AO3 -) only explains reactive depression & not endogenous depression
E:
- reactive depression refers to when depression is triggered by life events (‘activating events’)
- how we respond to negative life events party due to beliefs
- many cases of depression not traceable to life events & it’s not obvious what causes person to become depressed at certain times (endogenous depression)
T: ellis’s model of depression can only explain some cases of depression & is therefore only a partial explanation
