Beck's Negative Triad

• Biological factors like imbalances in biochemistry might be a more scientific explanation for depression.
• The cognitive explanation ignores any biological factors that might be causing depression.
• Cohen et al (2019) concluded that screening young people for cognitive vulnerability can help reduce the risk of depression in the future.
• There is an association between cognitive vulnerability and depression.
• Cohen et al (2019) tracked the development of 473 adolescents and found cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression.
• Clark & Beck (1999) suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities are more common in depressed individuals.
• CBT attempts to identify and challenge negative, irrational thoughts and has been used successfully to treat people with depression.
• One strength of the cognitive explanation for depression is its application to therapy (CBT).
• Boury et al (2001) found that patients with depression were more likely to misinterpret information negatively (cognitive bias) and feel hopeless about their future (negative triad), which supports Beck’s theory.