What is depression, what explains it, and how is it treated?
Depression: the nature, symptoms and diagnosis of depression, biological and psychological explanations of its causes, biological and psychological treatments, and the supporting research evidence and methods.
The SQA Higher Psychology Individual Behaviour optional topic on depression: symptoms and diagnosis, biological and psychological explanations of its causes, biological and psychological treatments, and the research evidence and methods used to study depression.
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What this dot point is asking
Depression is an optional Individual Behaviour topic dealing with atypical behaviour, so it can appear as a -mark question in the additional-topic section. The SQA wants you to describe the symptoms and diagnosis of depression, explain both biological and psychological causes, explain treatments, and use research evidence and methods to support and evaluate these explanations.
The answer
The nature, symptoms and diagnosis of depression
Biological explanations
Psychological explanations
Treatments for depression
Examples in context
Twin and family studies are the main evidence for the biological explanation: higher concordance for depression in identical than non-identical twins supports an inherited vulnerability, though concordance is well below , which shows genes are not the whole story and leaves room for psychological causes. Drug trials show SSRIs reduce symptoms for many patients, supporting the serotonin account, but a substantial group does not respond, and relapse is common when medication stops. Outcome studies of CBT show it is at least as effective as drugs for mild to moderate depression and protects against relapse, supporting the cognitive explanation. The fact that combined drug-and-therapy treatment often works best is itself used as evidence that biological and psychological factors interact. A Higher answer that pairs explanations with two or three of these studies and judges the balance reaches the top band.
Try this
Q1. Describe Beck's cognitive triad. [3 marks]
- Cue. Automatic negative thoughts about the self, the world and the future that distort how a depressed person interprets events.
Q2. Explain one strength and one weakness of using antidepressant drugs to treat depression. [6 marks]
- Cue. Strength: drugs act relatively quickly and help many patients by raising serotonin. Weakness: they treat symptoms not causes, do not work for everyone, and relapse is common when stopped.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher (optional topic)20 marksCompare biological and psychological explanations of depression.Show worked answer →
A -mark question split between KU and analysis or evaluation. Around to marks reward an accurate account of both explanations: the biological view (low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, a genetic vulnerability, and brain or hormonal factors) and the psychological view (Beck's cognitive triad of negative thoughts about the self, the world and the future, plus learned helplessness).
The remaining marks reward comparison and evaluation. Strong answers weigh the two: drug treatments raising serotonin reduce symptoms, supporting the biological view, but they do not work for everyone and cognitive therapy is at least as effective, supporting the psychological view. The discriminator is a reasoned judgement that depression has multiple, interacting causes, often framed as a diathesis-stress model.
SQA Higher (optional topic)12 marksDescribe one biological and one psychological treatment for depression.Show worked answer →
A -mark question, roughly half KU and half analysis. Markers reward developed description rather than a list.
A strong answer pairs antidepressant drugs (such as SSRIs that increase available serotonin) with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT, which identifies and challenges negative automatic thoughts and replaces them). Analysis marks come from noting how each works and contrasting them, for example that drugs act quickly but relapse is common when they stop, whereas CBT is slower but gives skills that reduce relapse.
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