Explaining Depression Flashcards
What is Ellis’s ABC model?
(A) Activating Event= a negative situation occurs, (B) Belief= the explanation we create for why a situation happened, (C) Consequences = our feelings and behaviours in response to our adversity.
How has research challenged the cognitive view that depression is defined by irrational thinking?
Alloy and Abrahmson (1979) found that depressed people gave more accurate estimates of the likelihood of a disaster than non depressed people. He called this the ‘sadder but wiser effect’. This challenges the view that depressed people are inherently irrational as they are able to make more rational judgments about the future than non depressed people. However, this criticism only applies if irrational thinking is accurately interpreting reality (Becks definition), Ellis defined it as whilst not necessarily inaccurate, still interferes with happiness. Therefore criticism may not be applicable to all cognitive studies. Ultimately, this study does not provide for support for the claim that depressed people are necessarily irrational, thereby challenging the central claim of the cognitive explanation of depression.
What indirect research is there to support for the validity of cognitive explanations for depression?
Research suggests cognitive explanations for depression are invalid. The explanations of depression led to the development of a cognitive behavioural approach called CBT. A meta analysis by Cuijpers (2013) revealed that CBT is a highly effective treatment for depression. This provides indirect support for the validity of cognitive explanations for depression as if the explanations were invalid that the treatment wouldn’t be effective. Meta analysis is the most powerful type of evidence as it aggregates research from multiple types of studies, leading to an overall representative sample. The studies findings are therefore generalisable for depressed people.
What is the research support for Becks cognitive explanation of depression?
Grazioli and Terry found that pregnant women assessed as having cognitive vulnerabilities, e.g negative self schemas, were more likely to develop post-natal depression after giving birth, than those who were assessed as not having cognitive vulnerabilities. These findings support Becks cognitive explanation of depression as the cognitive vulnerabilities of the pregnant women would have cremated a negative framework for interpreting life events, such as having a child, that therefore increased their chance of developing depression. However, although Becks findings are evident in this study, pregnant women are not necessarily representative for the overall population. Meaning, this research only supports Becks cognitive explanation of depression in pregnant women suggesting the theory may not be universal.
What do both Beck & Ellis focus on?
The role that dysfunctional/irrational thought processes play in causing the characteristics of depression.
How does Beck explain his explanation for depression?
According to Beck, people develop depression because of a dysfunctional style of thinking called the negative triad (involving negative thoughts about the self, future and world).
How did Ellis explain his theory of depression?
He argued dysfunctional thoughts caused depression and identified a pattern of thinking called mustabatory thinking which involves believing things must be a certain way (e.g. I must do well)
