Etiology of Depression

Jimmy, Steffi, Isotta

SOCIAL CULTRUAL FACTORS

• Brown & Harris (1978)– Vulnerability Model: Losing Mum in early age,

Unemployment, lack of stable relationship, more than 3 young kids at home, poverty

– Varying cultures• Nicholson et al. (2008)

– Men in the most socially disadvantage groups Poland, Russia, Cz.R. 5 times more likely to report depression than others.

• Gabilonda et al (2010)– Lower suicide rate, may be due to strong traditional family roles,

religiosity

Cohen (2002)

• In periods of history or countries where social inequalities are more defined…

• …RATES OF DEPRESSION ARE HIGHEROppression, Powerlessness, physical stress• Or it could also be that by living in an individualist,

materialistic world, the perception of in equality is greater.

Westernisation = Rate of Depression

Not just heightened social stress?Could be change in diagnostic patterns due to Western influence.

Hofstede

• Arrindell (2003)– Masculinity Femininity Index– Correlation between prevalence of depression and the

index.

• Chiao & Blizinsky (2010)– Individualism has negative correlation with the frequency of serotonin

alleles.

Cognitive

Cognitive vulnerability model

-people who have certain cognitive characteristics are more likely to be depressed-depression makes an individual more vulnerable

Aaron Beck(1976)- negative life event creates negative effect

• -suggests cognitive triad (negative thoughts:the self, the world, the future) underlie the information-people maintain and develop the negative thoughts through a set of cognitive biases -over generalization (I always fail tests) -selective abstraction (normally focusing on negative things) -polar reasoning (not being able to appreciate life)these give a negative self schema which could be contributed by parents or peer in early life-however, its unclear if it really caused depression or is it simply disordered thinking

Hankin and Abramson(2001)

• Extend the model, improve the ability to explain gender differences

Albert Ellis (1962)

• Focus on negative cognitive style as the basis of depression

• Self-defeating and irrational beliefs affect interpretation of activating events and lead to negative emotional consequences

Taylor and Brown(1988)

• Depressed people are more realistic in their interpretations of activation events

Biological

What is it?

• The theory that depression is developed, to a certain extent, biologically and that the main factors that effect depression are; stressful life events, genes, hormones and neurotransmissions.

• Hagen et al (2004) evolutionary perspective on depression, depression is a psychological adaptation favored by natural selection, like all evolutionary explanations this cannot be tested through experiments.

• Kendler et al (2006) Swedish Twin Study, over 42000 twins, trying to look at the genetic side of depression, twins were asked to use telephones and diagnose a patient with depression, concordance between monozygotic twins 0.44%, if the disorder was genetic based the monozygotic concordance rates should be higher, however difference between monozygotic concordance and dizygotic allows us to believe that there is a genetic influence.

• Some research looking at alleles and a hormone called 5-HTT affect the transmission and reuptake of serotonin therefore increasing the chances of one to fall into depression.

• Levinson (2005) though he believes the idea of alleles he believes that rather then causing depression the gene is more likely to make an individual is more sensitive to stressful life events.

• Looking at neurotransmissions, Rivas–Vazquez and Blais, 1997, found that a certain drug used to cure tuberculosis was able to improve ones mood.

• Lacasse and Leo (2005) look at problems with serotonin hypothesis, there is no evidence of patients’ serotonin levels, there is no control level of serotonin to base this on, example: headaches are made better by aspirin but we do not know if they are caused by the lack of aspirin.

• Burke et al (2005) when non-depressed people are stressed cortisol levels rise and fall rapidly, depressed people have blunt reactions and remain under stress for longer.

CONCLUSION!