Pyschopathology L9

Question 1

Cognitive explanations of depression definition

Answer 1

Some people are more vulnerable to depression because of the way they think

Question 2

Who developed the negative triad?

Answer 2

Beck (1967)

Question 3

Describe the ‘negative triad’ as a cognitive explanation of depression as proposed by Beck (1967)

Answer 3

• Beck (1967) believed that depressed people have acquired a negative schema (cognitive framework that helps us organise and interpret information & make sense of new information) during childhood, and therefore have a tendency to adopt a pessimistic view of the world
• This can be caused by many factors such as: parental/peer rejection & criticism from teachers
• The negative schemas (e.g: expecting to fail) are activated whenever the person encounters a new situation (e.g: an exam) that resembles the original conditions in which the schema was learned
• Negative schemas lead to cognitive biases in thinking (e.g: overgeneralisations, such as saying “I’m stupid” based on one small piece of negative feedback, like failing one class test)

Question 4

What are the 3 elements that people have irrational views about according to the negative triad?

Answer 4

1. The self
   - “There is nothing to like about me, I am boring”
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2. The world
   - “Nobody likes me, everyone would prefer someone else’s company”
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3. The future
   - “I am always going to be on my own, nobody will ever love me”

Question 5

What is a strength of the negative triad?

Answer 5

1. It has supporting evidence to suggest that negative and irrational thinking causes depression
   - Terry (2000) assessed 65 pregnant women for cognitive vulnerability (using a questionnaire) before and after they gave birth
   - Women who had a high cognitive vulnerability (they thought negatively) were more likely to suffer post-partum depression

Question 6

What are 2 weaknesses of the negative triad?

Answer 6

1. Cause and effect is not always clear
   - It is unclear whether negative and irrational thoughts cause depression to develop, or if depression develops first (from a different source e.g: genetics) which then causes the patient to think in a negative & irrational way
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2. It doesn’t explain how some symptoms of depression might develop
   - Some depressed patients are very angry and Beck’s theory fails to account for this
   - It also doesn’t explain the manic phases experienced by patients with bipolar disorder

Question 7

Who developed the ABC model?

Answer 7

Ellis (1962)

Question 8

Describe the ‘ABC model’ as a cognitive explanation of depression as proposed by Ellis (1962)

Answer 8

• Ellis (1962) proposed that depression is caused by irrational beliefs
  1. A = Activating event
• An incident in someone’s life (e.g: getting fired from work)

2. B = Beliefs
   - The thoughts that occur after the activating event
   - These could be rational/healthy (e.g: ‘the company was over-staffed’) or irrational/unhealthy (e.g: ‘they have always hated me’)
3. C = Consequences
   - The emotions that are caused by these beliefs
   - Rational beliefs are likely to lead to healthy emotions (e.g: acceptance), whereas irrational beliefs are likely to lead to unhealthy emotions (e.g: depression)

Question 9

What is a strength of the ABC model?

Answer 9

1. It has supporting research
   - Bates (1999) found that depressed participants who were given negative thought statements became more and more depressed
   - This supports the view that negative thinking helps to cause depression
   - However, this was also unethical because giving participants negative thought statements could lead to further psychological harm

Question 10

What is a weakness of the ABC model?

Answer 10

1. Although it gives the client some power to change the situation and improve their symptoms of depression, it blames the client for the depression