Abstract: Operationalizing the cognitive vulnerability includes composite score, the highest score, and intra-individual standard deviation, which are used widely in depression researches. In the present, we reviewed these approaches and appreciated their significance during the course and therapy of hopelessness depression. We found that the composition score and the highest score reflected the different aspects of the cognitive vulnerability factors in hopelessness depression respectively. Therefore, comparing the two methods would be of great importance in future research. In addition, explanatory flexibility, which was represented by intra-individual standard deviation, may be a new vulnerability component beyond the hopelessness theory, and thus should shed light on the therapy of depression.

Key words: hopelessness depression, operationalizing cognitive vulnerability, composite score, the highest score, intra-individual standard deviation