Outline and Evaluate One or More Biological Explanation of Depression. in Your Evaluation, You Should Refer to Research Evidence. (25 Marks)

718 Words3 Pages
Outline and evaluate one or more biological explanation of depression. In your evaluation, you should refer to research evidence. (25 Marks) One of the most popular explanations of depression is genetics; this theory states that genes are to blame for the presence of depression. It also argues that depression, like many other illnesses, is an inherited one which runs in families. Gershon et al. (1989) research supports this view. In his research, Gershon found that there was a concordance rate (the proportion of pairs where both individuals share a certain characteristic) between family members and the risk of developing depression; he concluded that the more genes individuals share, the more likely they are at developing depression. However, this piece of research could be argued against as it claims that identical (MZ) twins only have a 55% chance of inheriting depression. However, if MZ twins share 100% of their genes, then they should both have 100% chance of developing depression, but according to this research, that is not the case; this research may also suggest that genetics are not the main factor in developing depression. Due to this, some psychologists believe that the theory of genetics cannot be used to explain depression. McGuffin et al (1996) conducted research on concordance rates using 177 identical and fraternal twins. They found that the concordance rate was 46% for identical twins, but only 20% for fraternal twins; these findings are significant as the concordance rate for identical twins is over double of that for fraternal twins. These findings support the biological explanation as it suggests that depression has a genetic factor. However, as all the pairs twins which were used in the study were raised in the same environment, the depression may have been learned or copied from another family member; therefore, this piece of research

More about Outline and Evaluate One or More Biological Explanation of Depression. in Your Evaluation, You Should Refer to Research Evidence. (25 Marks)

Open Document