Chapter 8: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
1. According to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, depressed mood most of the day nearly every day must
be present for at least 2 weeks in order to receive a diagnosis of a major depressive episode.
a. True
b. False
2. In the behavioral model of depression, which of the following is thought to contribute to the
etiology and maintenance of depression?
a. Deficiencies in norepinephrine (NE) signaling
b. A reduction in behaviors that elicit positive reinforcement from the environment and
an increase in avoidance behaviors
c. Information-processing deficits and enduring negative cognitive patterns
d. Explanatory styles for negative events that are external, specific, and temporary
3. Which of the following are examples of cognitive distortions that help depressed individuals
maintain their negative cognitive schemas, even in the face of contradictory evidence?
a. Arbitrary inference: drawing negative conclusions in the absence of corroborating
evidence
b. Selective abstraction: concentrating on one detail about a situation and ignoring others,
thereby not seeing the whole picture
c. All-or-nothing thinking: viewing things in black-and-white terms, rather than as
occurring on a continuum
d. All of the above
4. The learned helplessness model of depression can be attributed to
a. Beck and Ellis
b. Linehan and Miller
c. Skinner, Ferster, and Lewinsohn
d. Seligman and Abramson
5. Which of the following is true about the prevalence and global disease burden of MDD?
a. The peak age of onset of the first episode of MDD has been decreasing and is currently
between 15 and 29 years of age.
b. Lifetime prevalence rates of MDD are equal for men and for women.
c. The global disease burden of MDD, including financial costs for treatment, use of social
and medical services, impairment at work and absenteeism, and economic costs to
society, is expected to decrease.
d. The prevalence of MDD appears to have decreased among recent birth cohorts and in
the population in general.
6. HPA axis dysregulation is responsible for a deficiency in central nervous system concentration or
receptor function of serotonin and norepinephrine.
a. True
b. False
7. Negative reinforcement
a. Decreases a behavior with the addition of an aversive stimulus.
b. Increases a behavior with the removal of an aversive stimulus.
c. Increases a behavior with the addition of a pleasant stimulus.
d. Decreases a behavior with the removal of a pleasant stimulus.
8. Behavioral activation therapy is efficacious in treating depression by
a. Decreasing avoidance and increasing the likelihood of experiencing positive
reinforcement in the environment.
b. Cognitive restructuring of enduring negative cognitive patterns.
c. Electrical stimulation of the subgenual cingulate.
d. Altering HPA axis reactivity in response to traumatic stress.
9. SSRIs are currently the most effective treatment for MDD.
a. True
b. False
10. Depression is associated with:
a. Biased attention toward sad rather than angry, neutral, or happy faces.
b. Difficulty shifting attention from one task to another.
c. Self-focused attention accompanied by a repetitive focus on negative emotional causes,
symptoms, and consequences.
d. All of the above.