Using biopsychosocial models to describe and explain depression in rehabilitation medicine.

Abstract

The Biopsychosocial (BPS) model is widely invoked in rehabilitation medicine to understand depression, yet it often remains more descriptive than explanatory. This paper explores the capacity of various BPS models to explain depression, from simple visual representations to complex developmental and dynamic systems-based frameworks. A conceptual analysis of BPS models was carried out based on criteria of descriptive and explanatory adequacy. The analysis considered how the models address mediating or moderating variables, temporal dynamics, socio-cultural specificity and risk factors. Simpler BPS diagrams may lack causal clarity, while dynamic systems and attributional-behavioural-cognitive models offer richer explanatory frameworks, especially when incorporating genetic, gender, developmental history, and social contexts. Empirical complexity may limit clinical utility. Examining Major Depressive Disorder highlights the need for BPS models in rehabilitation medicine that move beyond static representations and support clinically useful reasoning about mechanisms, context, and change over time.