7. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

• 1. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Beck’s Negative Triad:

  • Cognitive vulnerability (3 reasons some more vulnerable to depression).
  • Faulty Info Processing.
  • Negative Self-Schemas.
  • The Negative Triad.
• 1a. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Faulty Information Processing:

  • Depressed people = errors in logic; selectively attended negative aspects situations.
• 1b. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Negative Self-Schemas:

  Origin of depressive thoughts like in negative triad.

  Childhood Events + Negative Schemas…

  • Loss of Parent.
  • Rejection.
  • Physical/Emotional Abuse.
• 1c. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Beck (1967) - Negative Triad:

  • Depression bc biased towards negative interpretations.
  • Negative thoughts towards self, future, world (each component worsens symptoms).
• 2. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Ellis’ ABC Model:

  • Irrational thoughts = depression.
  • Illogical + unrealistic interfere w/ being happy.
  • Good MH = rationality.
• 2a. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  Musturbatory Thinking:

  • Irrational thoughts caused by this.
  • Thinking certain ideas must be true for individual to be happy.
  • Holding assumptions = disappointment = depression.
• 2b. The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression

  ABC Model:

  • Activating Event - negative life event.
  • Beliefs - irrational interpretations of ‘A’ causes overreaction.
  • Consequences - emotional/behavioural outcome = depression.
• The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression (Evaluation)

  Strength - Beck:

  P - supporting research.

  E - Clark + Beck (1999), cognitive vulnerabilities more common in depressed people.

  E - confirmed by Cohen et al. (2019), tracked development of adolescents to measure cognitive vulnerabilities.

  L - cognitive vulnerabilities depression; association between the two.
• The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression (Evaluation)

  Strength - Beck:

  P - applications in screening + treatment for depression.

  E - Cohen et al. (2019), assessing cognitive vulnerabilities allows psychologists screen people, identify risk.

  E - can be applied in CBT, work by altering depressed thoughts, taught resilience.

  L - clinical practice; real-life application.
• The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression (Evaluation)

  Strength - Ellis:

  P - real-life/practical application in treatment.

  E - Ellis’ cognitive therapy = ‘rational emotive behaviour therapy’ (REBT).

  E - vigorously arguing w/ depressed person to alter irrational beliefs.

  L - real-world values.
• The Cognitive Approach to Explaining Depression (Evaluation)

  Limitation - Ellis:

  P - ABC model only explains reactive depression, not endogenous depression.

  E - depression triggered by life ‘activating’ events = reactive depression.

  E - many depression cases not traceable to life events, not obvious what leads to depression = endogenous.

  L - Ellis’ model only explains some cases, partial explanation.