Cognitive distortions and depression in psychiatrically disturbed adolescent inpatients

Beck's model of depression was examined with 110 hospitalized adolescents. Intercorrelations among measures of cognitive distortions and depression supported the downward extension of Beck's theorizing to adolescent inpatients. Inconsistencies between data sources (parent vs. child) suggest possible self-report contamination or the insensitivities of adult caregivers to the subjective elements of depression. The findings also may relate to unstable, developmental aspects of depressed episodes.