The influence of the clinically depressed state on personality
assessment was evaluated by comparing self-report personality inventories
of patients while clinically depressed and at follow-up 1 year later. The
authors examined two groups from the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH)-Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology
of Depression: Clinical Studies--patients whose symptoms had completely
remitted and those who had not recovered. The clinically depressed state
strongly influenced assessment of emotional strength, interpersonal
dependency, and extraversion. Assessment of rigidity, level of activity,
and dominance did not change after symptomatic recovery.
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