2.3.2. Demographic Predictors and Treatment Descriptions
depression
DISORDER
Zero-order correlations between demographic factors and the believability of CBT mechanisms are presented in Consistent with our predictions, we found that participants randomised to receive a description of CBT conforming to a biological model of depression endorsed heightened believability of the biological causes of depression and mechanisms of CBT. The complexity of the tailoring within the biological model description did not matter; those who received both simple and complex biological explanations believed the biological story of CBT for depression more readily than those who received a generic cognitively oriented description of CBT. Contrary to predictions, neither those randomised to receive descriptions of CBT for depression conforming to the stress-based model nor those randomised to receive a description conforming to the relationship-based model of the disorder endorsed greater believability of their corresponding models or mechanisms to be higher than those who received the generic description. Complexity also did not seem to correspond to differences in the believability of stress-based or relationship-based explanations of depression or mechanisms of CBT. Overall, the findings from Study 1 suggest that the believability of CBT mechanisms depends on several contextual and demographic factors. Importantly, once depression is framed within a biological perspective, potential consumers of CBT were less likely to believe that CBT may disrupt these biological mechanisms unless explicitly outlined. 