A-Level Psychology
2027 Predicted Essays
& A* Model Answers

Why not reuse: the 2026 pack listed this as a prediction but wrote no model answer for it.

AQA 7182 · Paper 1 · Section D: Clinical Psychology and Mental Health · 16 marks

AO bar: AO1 knowledge ≈ 6 marks · AO3 evaluation ≈ 10 marks

Plan - Define depression in cognitive terms: faulty thinking, not events, drives low mood. - AO1: Beck’s negative triad and schemas; Ellis’s ABC model; CBT and disputing. - AO3: Jones et al. (2010) supports the link but not the direction of cause. - AO3: TADS (2007) shows CBT works, yet combination treatment works better. - AO3: partial explanation; risk of blaming the client. - Judgement: strong account of how depression is maintained; weaker on what causes it.

Answer

[AO1] The cognitive approach argues that depression comes from the way a person interprets events, not from the events themselves. Beck (1967) proposed the negative triad: negative views of the self, the world and the future. These views come from negative self-schemas formed in childhood, often through criticism or loss. Cognitive biases keep the schemas active. Overgeneralisation turns one failure into “I always fail”. Selective abstraction focuses on the one negative detail.

[AO1] Ellis (1962) proposed the ABC model. An Activating event (A) does not cause depression directly. The person’s irrational Belief (B) about it produces the emotional Consequence (C). Beliefs built on “must” and “should” are the most damaging. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) follows from both models. The therapist and client identify negative automatic thoughts and test them against evidence. Ellis added D and E: Disputing the irrational belief leads to a more Effective new belief.

[AO3] There is evidence that depressed people think in the way Beck describes. Jones et al. (2010) found that 143 women with recurrent depression held more dysfunctional beliefs and had lower self-esteem than 173 healthy controls. This fits the negative triad. However, the women were assessed after repeated episodes. The beliefs could be a result of depression rather than its cause. This matters because if faulty thinking follows low mood, CBT may treat a symptom rather than the cause.

[AO3] The treatment evidence is a strength. In the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS Team, 2007), 439 adolescents received CBT, fluoxetine (an antidepressant) or both. By 36 weeks, 81% responded to CBT alone, the same as fluoxetine alone. This suggests that changing thinking produces real change, so cognition must play some part. Yet combination treatment reached 86%. So the cognitive account is useful but incomplete, because a biological treatment added benefit.

[AO3] The approach also explains some cases better than others. Ellis’s model fits reactive depression, triggered by an identifiable event. It says less about depression with no obvious trigger. It also focuses on the individual’s thinking. That can underplay real circumstances, such as poverty or abuse, and imply that the client is to blame for their low mood. A therapist who disputes a “realistic” negative belief may do harm.

[AO3] Finally, CBT asks a lot of the client. It requires concentration, homework and motivation, which severe depression often removes. This is a practical limit on the treatment, and it is another reason combination or drug treatment may come first in severe cases. Even so, CBT teaches skills the client keeps after therapy ends. That gives it an advantage over drugs, which work only while they are taken.

Conclusion: The cognitive approach gives a clear and testable account of how depression is maintained, and CBT performs as well as medication by 36 weeks. Its weakness is causal direction: evidence that depressed people think negatively does not show that negative thinking came first. The judgement depends on severity. For reactive, mild to moderate depression it is a strong explanation and treatment. For severe or untriggered depression it works best alongside biological approaches.

Examiner notes - Use the new section name, “Clinical Psychology and Mental Health”, if you label your answer. The content is unchanged. - The causal-direction point is the top-band evaluation. Make it twice: once on explanation, once on treatment. - Use percentages precisely and say what they show (a “so” or “because” after every statistic).

Sources

1. AQA, A-level Psychology 7182 specification, 3.1.4 Clinical Psychology and Mental Health (subject content page, accessed 31 Oct 2026): https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/psychology/a-level/psychology-7182/specification/subject-content/introductory-topics-in-psychology
2. Jones, L. et al. (2010). Cognitive style, personality and vulnerability to postnatal depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 196(3), 200–205. Record opened: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/28893/
3. TADS Team (2007). The Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS): long-term effectiveness and safety outcomes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(10). Summary opened: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-updates/2007/depressed-adolescents-respond-best-to-combination-treatment
4. Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, Experimental and Theoretical Aspects. Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. (Standard spec texts; not opened.)