Depression: Social and Cognitive Aspects

Abstract Although there are numerous facets of depression, this chapter reviews its social and cognitive aspects. The chapter begins with a brief history of depression and then examines the epidemiology of depression, as well as demographic data related to ethnicity, sex difference, and age and cohort effects. Social and cognitive models and the factors associated with these models, such as life events, are reviewed. Among these models is the idea of stress generation, wherein stress is not brought about by external events but is rather generated by the interpersonal behaviors of depressed individuals. Several cognitive models focus on Beck’s cognitive model of depression, which examines the role of depressogenic schemas in the onset and maintenance of depression. There is also some evidence to suggest that depressive cognition might have a genetic basis, and data on the role of the 5-HTTLPR gene in relation to depressive cognitions is reviewed. Attribution-based models, such as the learned helplessness and learned hopelessness models, are also reviewed, as is the self-regulatory approach to depression proposed by Crevone. The authors conclude by summarizing social and cognitive factors related to depression.