The authors assessed patients newly admitted to two North American
health centers and one South American (Colombian) center according to a
standardized protocol, with a structured interview, a symptom checklist,
and a depression scale. The patients were suffering from major depressive
disorders with endogenous features. There was an impressive similarity in
symptoms of depression across cultures, supporting the idea of a universal
core depressive syndrome. However, somatization indexes, psychomotor
components of depression, and levels of psychopathology differed between
U.S. and Colombian samples. The authors offer a general discussion of
potential determinants of these cross-cultural differences.Abstract Teaser