Beck’s Negative Triad AO3

• +Research support.

  Cognitive vulnerability refers to ways of thinking that may predispose a person to becoming depressed. Clark & Beck concluded that these cognitive vulnerabilities were more common in depressed people but they also preceded the depression. Cohen confirmed this in a more prospective study where he tracked the development of 473 adolescents, regularly measuring cognitive vulnerability. It was found that showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression. This shows that there is an association between cognitive vulnerability and depression.
• +Real world application.

  Cohen concluded that assessing cognitive vulnerability allows psychologists to screen young people, identifying those most at risk of developing depression in the future and monitoring them. Understanding cognitive vulnerability can also be applied in cognitive behaviour therapy. These therapies work by altering the mind of cognitions that make people vulnerable to depression, making them more resilient to negative life events. This means that an understanding of cognitive vulnerability is useful in more than one aspect of clinical practice.