Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression

An argument has been made that nothing brings mental health professionals closer to understanding the essential features of disorders than does the construct of vulnerability (Ingram & Price, 2001). Nowhere is this assertion probably more true than in the case of depression, where the study of vulnerability has begun to emerge as a focal point in efforts to understand and prevent this disorder. This chapter discusses theory and research that has examined the essential features of vulnerability to depression. A number of conceptual paradigms (e.g., biological, genetic) have offered important insights into the nature of vulnerability to depression. However, because cognitive factors have been widely recognized in the psychological-science community to play an important role in risk for depression, the focus is on cognitive approaches to vulnerability.