AO3 - Cognitive Explanations of Depression

• Research to support Beck's Negative Triad was conducted by Cohen et al. He tracked the development of 473 adolescents, regularly measuring cognitive vulnerability. It was found that showing cognitive vulnerability predicted later depression in their life. Therefore supporting that there is an association between cognitive vulnerability, such as negative thinking, suggesting that Beck's Negative Triad is an appropriate explanation of depression.
• Findings of research into the cognitive approach to explaining depression has led to practical applications. The principles of the theory that depression is caused by negative and irrational thought processing has led to the treatment of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This therapy has found to be effective in treating depression by helping clients to identify, challenge and change irrational thoughts to rational ones, via disputing. Therefore the cognitive approach to explaining depression is an important part of applied psychology as it helps to treat people in the real world.
• A weakness of the cognitive approach to explaining depression is that cause and effect cannot be established within the research. Whilst negative/irrational thoughts can be linked to depression, it cannot be firmly concluded whether negative/irrational thoughts cause depression or if they are a consequence of it. Therefore, it is argued that the cognitive explanation cannot be seen as a full explanation of depression.