The Cognitive Approach to Depression (Psychopathology)

Question 1

What are the emotional characteristics of depression?

Answer 1

• Low mood
• Loss of pleasure

Question 2

What are the cognitive characteristics of depression?

Answer 2

• Irrational negtaive beliefs
• Difficulty concerntrating

Question 3

What are the behavioural characteristics of depression?

Answer 3

• Change in appetite
• Change in sleep patterns
• Social withdrawal

Question 4

What was Ellis’s ABC models aim?

Answer 4

Explain how irrational thoughts affect our behaviour and emotional state.

Question 5

What is involved in Ellis’s ABC model?

Answer 5

• Activating event
• Beliefs
• Consequences

Question 6

Outline activating event in Ellis’s ABC model:

Answer 6

We get depressed when we experiance negative events which triggers irrational beliefs.

Question 7

Outline beliefs in Ellis’s ABC model:

Answer 7

Identified a range of irrational beleifs.

EXAMPLE: ‘musturbation’ = we must always succeed/achieve perfection.

Question 8

Outline consequences in Ellis’s ABC model

Answer 8

When an activating event triggers irrational beliefs that are emotional and behavioural consequences.

EXAMPLE: if you believe you must always succeed and then fail, this can trigger depression.

Question 9

What does Beck include in cognitive vulnerability?

Answer 9

• Faulty information processing
• Negative self-schemas
• The negative triad

Question 10

Outline Becks faulty information processing?

Answer 10

• When depressed we look at the negatives of a situation and ignore positives.
• We also blow small problems out of proportion.

Question 11

Outline Becks negative self-schemas:

Answer 11

Interpreting all information about ourselves in a negative way.

Question 12

Outline Becks negative triad:

Answer 12

A person develops a dysfunctional view of themselves beacuse of three types of negative thinking which occurs automatically.
- Negative thoughts on: world, future, oneself.

Question 13

What is the negative view of the world? (Becks negative triad)

Answer 13

Creating the impression that there is no hope anywhere.

Question 14

What is the negative view of the future? (Becks negative triad)

Answer 14

Reduces hopefulness and enhances depression.

Question 15

What is the negative view of oneself? (Becks negative triad)

Answer 15

Thoughts enhance any exsiting depressive feelings as they confrim the exisiting emotions of low self-esteem.

Question 16

Whose study supports the cognitive approach?

Answer 16

Koster

Question 17

Outline Kosters study:

Answer 17

Investigated: attention abilites of people with depression.

Procedure: ppts sat in front of a computer + a positive/negative/neutral word appeard along with a sqaure. Ppts has to press a button as fast as possible to indercate where sqaure appeard.

DV = reaction time.
IV = whether ppts had depression or not.

Question 18

What were Kosters findings?

Answer 18

• After presented with negative words = ppts with depression took longer to indercate where the square appeared which were not observed with positive/neutral words.
• People with major depresson focus on negatives + have a negative cognitive bias.

Question 19

Whose study is against the cognitive approach?

Answer 19

• Alloy and Abramson
• McGuffin

Question 20

Outline Alloy and Abramsons study:

Answer 20

Asked ppts with/without depression to estimate how much control they had over a flashing light.

Question 21

What were the findings of Alloy and Abramsons study?

Answer 21

• Ppts with depression estimated more accurately than the control group.
• Not all people with depresson have irrational beliefs.

Question 22

Outline McGuffins study:

Answer 22

• Irrational negative beleifs may not be the only cause of depression.

Concordance rates for depression:
- MZ twins = 46%
- DZ twins = 20%

Question 23

What were the findings for McGuffins study?

Answer 23

Genetic factors contribute to depression.

Question 24

Outline Becks cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT):

Answer 24

• Aims to remove negative beliefs that causes depression.

1) Identify negative beliefs.

2) Thearpist challenges negatives beliefs.

3) Test their hypothesis (investigating the reality of thier negative beliefs).

4) Evaluate the evidence (set them homework - e.g. record when they are enjoying an event).

Question 25

Outline Ellis’s rational emotive behaviour thearpy (REBT):

Answer 25

• Identify + challenge irrational thoughts, breaking the link between negative life events and depression.

Different methods of challenging thoughts:
- Empirical
- Logical

Question 26

What is the support for CBT treatment?

Answer 26

Culjpers

Question 27

Outline Culjpers study:

Answer 27

• Reviewed all studies in US that compared experimental groups of depressed ppts receiving CBT with a control group receiving no treatment.

Question 28

What were the findings for Culjpers study?

Answer 28

Those treated with CBT = improved symptoms compared to control group.

• CBT is more effective than no treatment.

Question 29

What are the limitations of CBT?

Answer 29

• It may not be effective for everyone because there are individual differneces of patients experiences.

Culjpers = effectiveness of CBT varies between individuals.

• It may not be as effective as other treatments.

Treatments aimed at biological causes may be more effective (such as antidpressants - SSRIs).