Boal, Miranda (2013) Conceptualising Depression in Adolescents: Integrating Mindfulness and Experiential Avoidance Concepts into a Traditional Cognitive Model. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This research explored the relationships between the theoretical concepts underlying third-wave therapies and the traditional cognitive model of depression. The concepts of mindfulness, defined as ‘‘paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4); experiential avoidance, defined as an unwillingness to experience certain private events and attempts to avoid internal processes (Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996); automatic negative thoughts, defined as temporary cognitions that contain negative content (Beck, 1976, 1987) and depression were examined in non-clinical and clinical adolescent populations. A cross-sectional survey was utilized in Study One in a non-clinical sample of 235 adolescents aged between 12 and 19 years with a mean age of 14.19 (SD = 0.79). A cross-sectional survey was also utilized in Study Two with a clinical sample of 39 adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years old with a mean age of 15.3 years (SD=1.56). Participants were current clients of a public Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and seeking treatment for depressive symptoms. In both studies it was hypothesized that greater mindfulness would be associated with lower depression and greater experiential avoidance with increased depression. Whether or not mindfulness and experiential avoidance would mediate the relationship between automatic negative thoughts and depression was also investigated. Study Two also explored whether the constructs examined in both the clinical and non-clinical studies were helpful in discriminating whether participants belonged to the non-clinical or clinical sample. Participants in both studies completed the short version of the CONCEPTUALISING DEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS 4 Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), The Child Acceptance and Mindfulness Measure (CAMM; Greco, Baer & Smith, 2011), the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; Greco, Baer & Lambert, 2008) and the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ; Hollon & Kendall, 1980). As hypothesised non-clinical sample adolescents who reported higher depression scores were found to also report greater levels of experiential avoidance and poorer mindfulness capacity. Mindfulness accounted for 30% of the variance in depression. Experiential avoidance accounted for 34% of the variance in depression. Automatic negative thoughts were found to be the most powerful predictor of depression, over that of mindfulness and experiential avoidance. As expected, neither study found significant differences in the relative importance of mindfulness or experiential avoidance in relation to predicting depressive symptoms. In Study One, mindfulness and experiential avoidance were found to partially mediate the relationship between automatic negative thoughts and depression. In Study Two, mindfulness was negatively correlated with depression whilst experiential avoidance was positively correlated with depression. Consistent with the results of Study One, automatic negative thoughts was found to be a more powerful predictor of depression over that of mindfulness and experiential avoidance. Unlike in Study One, neither mindfulness nor experiential avoidance was found to mediate the relationship between automatic negative thoughts and depression. A Discriminant Function Analysis was conducted. When the relative importance of the different variables were examined to discriminate between clinical and CONCEPTUALISING DEPRESSION IN ADOLESCENTS 5 non-clinical participants automatic negative thoughts and mindfulness were found to be the most powerful predictors of clinical or non-clinical group membership. The Discussion of this dissertation considers support for third-wave therapies for young people given the findings of these two studies. Implications of this research with regard to the treatment of depression are also discussed.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology, Counselling and Community (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2014) |
| Supervisors: | Grace Pretty |
| Qualification: | Doctorate of Clinical Psychology |
| Date Deposited: | 19 Aug 2025 02:50 |
| Last Modified: | 19 Aug 2025 02:50 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52162 |
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