Lewinsohn's self-focusing theory of depression

There are many theories to explain depression. One of the most complete is Lewinsohn's (1985) self-focus theory, a behavioral-cognitive theory focused on explaining the origin, maintenance and aggravation of depression.

Behavioral-cognitive theories focus on the personal variance of the Person x Situation interaction, and include among its elements cognitive processes.

So, we are going to see what Lewinsohn's theory consists of, as well as its most important characteristics.

Related article: "Emotional psychology: main theories of emotion"

Lewinsohn's self-focusing theory: general characteristics

We know that depression is a mental disorder that affects the way we think, live and feel.. Thus, in most cases, we know that it originates from a set of events, both external and internal. This, in addition to other factors, is maintained by certain patterns of behavior that we perpetuate and that allow this depressive state.

In his theory, Lewinsohn posits environmental factors as primarily responsible for depression; however, he also talks about cognitive factors that mediate such onset, maintenance, and worsening. In other words, for him cognitive factors are mediators of depression, as we will see later.

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The main mediating factor is increased self-awareness. Lewinsohn defines self-focusing as a transitory and situational state where the person focuses on himself, or the amount of attention that the person directs to himself instead of to the environment.

You may be interested in: "Types of depression: its symptoms, causes and characteristics"

chain of events

Lewinsohn's Self-Focusing Theory proposes that the development of events is as follows.

First there is an antecedent event. Said event increases the probability of occurrence of a future depression or a stressor. Thus, there is a disruption of adaptive patterns of behavior, and the person is unable to develop other patterns that replace the previous ones.

This generates a negative emotional reaction., the intensity of which depends on two factors: the importance of the event to the person, and the level of disruption in daily life.

Thus, a negative imbalance is generated in relation to the quality of the interactions of the person with their environment, which materializes in a decrease in positive reinforcement and an increase in the rate of experiences aversive

Critical mediating factors

In summary, Lewinsohn's self-focusing theory of depression proposes that in the chain of events leading to the onset of a depressive episode, the critical factors that mediate the effects of the reduced rate of positive reinforcement on depression are:

An increase in self-awareness (autofocus).
An increase in negative experiences.
A person's failure to cope with stress (eg, a life event, such as a loss).

High self-awareness

More specifically, Lewinsohn proposes that two elements come together to generate heightened self-awareness: on the one hand, the commented negative emotional response, along with the negative impact due to the person's failure to reverse the consequences of stress. So, this sum causes a high state of consciousness.

This self-awareness determines the origin of three factors: cognitive alterations, negative behavioral consequences and the intensification of previous emotional reactions.

The increase in self-awareness, together with an intensification of negative emotions, causes in the person a reduction in self-esteem and a series of cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes that correlate with depression. In turn, these changes exacerbate self-awareness, creating a vicious circle that maintains and aggravates depression.

Characteristics that predispose to depression

Lewinsohn's Self-Focusing Theory proposes a series of predisposing characteristics that increase the risk of having a depressive episode or depressive disorder. These are:

To be a woman.
Being 20-40 years old.
Having a previous history of depression.
Having poor coping skills.
Having a heightened sensitivity to aversive events.
Be poor.
Show a high tendency to self-awareness.
Have low self-esteem.
Having a low threshold of activation of depressogenic self-schemes.
Show interpersonal dependency.
Have children under 7 years of age.

Protective factors

On the other hand, Lewinsohn also poses in his model a number of protective factors against depression. These are basically three:

Perceive yourself as possessing high social competence
Frequently experience positive events
Having an intimate and close person in whom you can trust.

depressed mood

On the other hand, Lewinsohn's Theory of self-focusing also specifies the existence of feedback loops that determine the level of severity and duration of a depressive episode.

On the other hand, he considers a depressed state of mind necessary to produce the negative consequences of depression; Said depressed state of mind, therefore, has a central role.