Oxford Text pg 295-305

Aaron Beck (1967)

views cognitive factors as the major cause of depressive behaviour

automatic thoughts

sub-vocal semi-conscious narrative that accompanies everything you do

cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

becoming aware of irrational thought elements and replacing them with more rational thinking

Alloy et al (1999)

split into low and high risk group based on if negative cognitive styles exist, found high risk group more likely to develop MDD

Caseras et al (2007)

looked at 3 pictures, found participants with depressive symptoms exhibit negative attention bias

Hammen and Krantz (1976)

found women with MDD had more logical fallacies than non-depressed women (read story)

Brown and Harris (1978)

based on semi-structured-survey - found four vulnerability factors that, when combined with acute or chronic social stressors were likely to provoke depression in women

Rosenquist, Fowler, and Christakis (2011)

investigated the possibility of person-to-person spread of depressive symptoms, found depression in one person causes depression in their friends

severity of the disorder

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

one treatment may be effective but wouldn’t be for severe cases

treatment outcomes

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

assessing effectiveness depends on what outcomes are explored

measuring the therapy outcome

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

some measurements for therapy outcomes are unreliable

exact mechanism of change

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

if effects are positive, what therapeutic elements are responsible

placebo effect

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

this approach must outperform placebo

Eyesench (1952)

published study that said psychotherapy doesn’t work

Smith and Glass (1977)

conducted a meta-analysis of psychotherapy, found 75% of patients are better if they hadn’t gone

Wampold (2007)

compared psychotherapy with medicine, found it’s as effective as pharmacological treatments

non-specific factors of psychotherapy

therapeutic influences associated with a wide range of approaches

dismantling design

hypothesized “active ingredients” are removed from the standardized treatment program and the result is compared to the “full” treatment

Jacobson et al (1996)

used dismantling design, found incomplete treatment wasn’t worse than full one

sudden gains

early dramatic treatment responses in psychotherapy that occur earlier than predicted

client’s willingness to trust

one of the 3 essential factors of successful psychotherapy:

therapist variables may be more important than treatment variables

working alliance

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

readiness of the client or work collaboratively with the therapist

placebo effect

assessing treatment effectiveness must take into account:

placebo effect should be isolated in research