Psychopathology: Lesson 9 - The Congnitive Approach To Explaining Depression Beck & Ellis

Question 1

What are the stages of the cognitive triad?

Answer 1

Stage one: Negative thought about self
Stage two: negative thoughts about the world
Stage three: negative thoughts about the future

Question 2

What is stage one: negative thoughts about self?

Answer 2

Stage one: Negative thoughts about self:

• The person has negative thoughts about themselves and might feel worthless and helpless
• They criticise themselves at every opportunity, e.g. “I am useless and I am no good at Mathematics”

Question 3

What is stage two negative thoughts about the world?

Answer 3

Stage two: Negative thoughts about the world:

• The person has negative thoughts that extend to the wider world around them
• The negative and distorted thinking continues on a larger scale, “I am useless at everything I do.”
• The statement becomes more global and negative

Question 4

What is stage three negative thoughts about the future?

Answer 4

Stage three: Negative thoughts about the future:

• The person begins to think negatively about their future which might seem bleak and negative; this can cause low self esteem
• The person thinks negatively and gets depressed about the future, e.g. “I will always be useless at everything I do, and this will never improve.”
• Such negative thinking according to Beck’s cognitive triad can lead to suicidal thoughts that have initially been caused by negative thinking

Question 5

Evaluation of the cognitive approach by Beck (very influential) (+)

Answer 5

• A strength of the cognitive approach is that it has become very influential over the past 20 years
• It seems that distorted and negative thoughts are very common amongst patients who have depression, and these negative thoughts play a key role in the development of the illness

Question 6

Evaluation of the cognitive approach by Beck (cause and effect is not clear) (-)

Answer 6

• A limitation of the cognitive approach is that cause and effect is not clear
• Can we say that negative and irrational thoughts cause depression to develop; or could we say that depression develops first (from a different source) and then this causes the patient to think in a negative and irrational way?
• Cause and effect needs to be investigated further so that psychologists can be sure that negative thinking causes depression to occur

Question 7

Evaluation of the cognitive approach by Beck (would criticise the behavioural approach) (+) (-)

Answer 7

• The cognitive approach would criticise the Behavioural approach when examining causes of depression
• The behavioural approach would state that depression is caused by learning and the environment, whereas the cognitive approach would disagree and state that negative thinking causes depression to occur (-)
  + There have been attempts to combine the cognitive and behavioural approaches together to form the “Cognitive Behavioural approach.”
  + The CB approach would aim to look at both the cognitive (negative and irrational thinking) and behavioural (classical and operant conditioning and social learning) elements in order to look at causes of depression. (+)

Question 8

Evaluation of the cognitive approach by Beck (depression in pregnant women) (+)

Answer 8

+ There is a great deal of supporting evidence to suggest that depression is caused by negative and irrational thinking, as well as the cognitive triad
+ Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability and depression before and after birth
+ It was found that women who had a high cognitive vulnerability (to think negatively) were more likely to suffer post natal depression
+ This supports the cognitive approach that negative thinking can cause depression (+)

Question 9

What is Ellis’s ABC model?

Answer 9

A = Activating Event: Patients record events leading to negative thinking and this is triggered by an event in the environment around them such as exam failure, or getting fired from work
B = Beliefs: Patients record their thoughts associated with the event (these can be rational or irrational), an example is that they think they are useless and stupid for failing the exam
C = Consequences: Patients record the emotional response to their beliefs. Irrational beliefs can lead to negative emotions such as feeling upset and thinking about ending their academic studies

Question 10

What is Mustabatory thinking?

Answer 10

• Ellis identified that mustabatory thinking can cause irrational and negative thinking that can be emotionally damaging and can lead to depression
• These include ‘I must be loved by everyone’ and ‘I must excel in all areas….otherwise I am worthless’
• An individual who holds these beliefs is bound to be disappointed or depressed, because these thoughts are too idealistic and the expectations are too high!

Question 11

Evaluation of Ellis’s ABC Model ( depressed participants becoming more depressed, Bates (1999) (+)

Answer 11

+ There is research to support the idea of Ellis’s ABC model as a cause of depression
+ Bates (1999) found that depressed participants who were given negative thought statements became more and more depressed supporting the view that negative thinking helps to cause depression (+)

Question 12

Evaluation of Ellis’s ABC model (cause and effect) (-)

Answer 12

• A disadvantage of Ellis’s model is that we it is not clear whether negative thinking actually causes depression
• It could be that depression occurs first (maybe through biology or genetics) and then this causes the person to think in a negative and irrational way
• Cause and effect needs to be established when looking at causes of depression (-)

Question 13

Evaluation of Ellis’s ABC model (blames the client when looking at causes of depression) (-)

Answer 13

• A disadvantage of the ABC model is that it blames the client when looking at the causes of depression
• It gives the client some power to change the situation and improve their symptoms of depression, however it could mean that situational factors that have helped to cause the depression are overlooked e.g. family problems
• Instead the psychologist would examine negative and irrational thoughts alone as a cause for depression (-)

Question 14

Evaluation of Ellis’s ABC model (childhood being the activating effect) (+)

Answer 14

• There is supporting evidence that people who develop depression in adulthood, tended to experience insecure attachments in childhood
• Therefore there seems to be a link with insecure childhood attachments contributing to negative thinking which can cause depression in adulthood (+)

Question 15

Evaluation of Ellis’s ABC model (based on scientific evidence) (+)

Answer 15

+ The ABC model of depression is based on scientific evidence that permits objective testing
+ This allows improvement of the model and a greater understanding for the causes of depression as a whole. (+)