Lesson 9 - The cognitive approach to explaining depression

Question 1

The Cognitive Triad

Answer 1

• Beck (1960)
• Negative thinking causes depression
• Negative thinking/schemas could be developed from childhood and overly critical upbringing. Life is viewed negatively in adulthood
• Stage One: Negative thoughts about self (I am useless)
• Stage Two: Negative thoughts about the world (The world is a cruel and horrible place)
• Stage Three: Negative thoughts about the future (I will always be useless)

Question 2

Strengths of the Cognitive Triad

Answer 2

• Very influential in psychology and it is based on sound experimentation. There is also sound research evidence to support the idea that negative thought process can lead to depression, like Bates et al (1999)
• Can be linked to the behavioural approach, like classical conditioning and social learning, the CB approach as a way to explain how people develop symptoms of depression, for example through Mowrer’s Two Process Model of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
• Research support, like Terry (2000)

Question 3

Terry (2000)

Answer 3

Supports the Cognitive triad

• assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability
• Those who had high vulnerability before birth were more likely to suffer post-pregnancy depression.
• Negative thinking can cause depression

Question 4

Weaknesses of the Cognitive Triad

Answer 4

• Cause and effect is not clear. Can depression cause negative thinking?
• cannot explain how symptoms of depression such as anger, hallucinations or bizarre beliefs can occur.

Question 5

The ABC model

Answer 5

• Ellis
• Depression is caused by irrational beliefs

A - Activating event, like being fired from work
B - Beliefs, like thinking you are useless
C - Consequences, like your emotional response to your beliefs, such as feeling upset

Question 6

Mustabatory thinking

Answer 6

• This kind of thinking can cause depression
• I must be loved by everyone, or I must excel in everything
• Those who hold these beliefs are highly likely to be disappointed

Question 7

Strengths of the ABC model

Answer 7

• There is research support, like Bates et al (1999). They found that emotionally vulnerable pregnant women were more likely to suffer from post-partum depression. This supports the idea that negative self-attitudes are a cause of depression
• There is supporting evidence that links negative attachments in childhood to depression in adulthood
• One strength of the cognitive explanation for depression is its application to therapy. The cognitive ideas have been used to develop effective treatments for depression, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), which was developed from Ellis’s ABC model. These therapies attempt to identify and challenge negative, irrational thoughts and have been successfully used to treat people with depression, providing further support to the cognitive explanation of depression.

Question 8

Bates (1999)

Answer 8

• Assessed depressed patients who were given negative thought statements
• They became more and more depressed as a result.

This kind of research can help provide effective depression treatments as we can identify the cause of it (negative thoughts).

Question 9

Weaknesses of the ABC model

Answer 9

• Cause and effect is not clear. Can depression cause irrational thinking?
• Does not take into account any situational factors regarding depression, like poor family life. It blames the victim and their thinking. Puts an uneccesary burden on the patients when the biggest contributing factor to their condition may be situational factors. The patient could potentially feel less motivated to continue their treatment and focus on bettering their cognitions.
• This approach is criticised by the biological approach, like Zhang (2005)

Question 10

Zhang (2005)

Answer 10

Weakens the ABC model

• discovered a gene that makes the carrier 10x more likely to develop depression.