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Six current behavioral formulations of depression are reviewed and criticized on the grounds of the narrowness of their conception, their frequently ambiguous initial expression in the literature, and the limited range of reinforcement parameters with which they deal. A decision model is presented that attempts to integrate these formulations into a coherent whole, whilst revealing the temporal and logical relations between them.

A young female gymnast of regional squad potential had ceased to make progress when she resumed training after a series of injuries and was given stress inoculation training to help her to regain her form. Preliminary interviews revealed that she had developed a number of negative self-statements and images which, it was hypothesised, may have been contributing towards her lack of progress. In order to replace these with positive self-statements and images a treatment programme of eight training sessions was implemented. Recorded interviews and subsequent comparison of comments made by the subject before and after the intervention programme, indicated that the training had been successful. This was endorsed by the coaches who reported an improved attitude to training and rapid progress in skill learning.

The study examined the effect of stress inoculation training on the level of self-reported stress and anxiety, overt signs of distress and the physiological impact of the stress of abseiling. Twenty volunteer subjects were randomly assigned to either a 'no training' control group or a stress inoculation training group, following which both groups of subjects had to complete a test abseil from the roof of a 21.2 m building. Prior to descent, two self-report measures were taken: an intensity score derived from the word or phrase chosen by subjects from the Perceived Stress Index to best describe their feelings and a state anxiety score from Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Overt distress was also evaluated by a 'blind' observer also using the Perceived Stress Index. In addition, heart rate was monitored just prior to and throughout the abseil using a telemetry system. The stress inoculation group showed significantly less self-reported anxiety and stress and less behavioural signs of distress as judged by the observer. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of heart rate. In addition, while self-report and the assessment of the observer were highly inter-correlated, these measures were poorly correlated with heart rate.