Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1476-1483
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Personality differences between patients with remitted melancholic and nonmelancholic depression
P Boyce, G Parker, I Hickie, K Wilhelm, H Brodaty and P Mitchell
Mood Disorders Unit, Prince Henry Hospital, Little Bay, NSW, Australia.
Seventy-five patients with remitted depression were categorized as having
melancholic-endogenous or non-melancholic-nonendogenous depression
according to DSM-III criteria, Research Diagnostic Criteria, and the
Newcastle endogeneity scale. The patients' scores on four personality
scales--the Eysenck Personality Inventory, the Interpersonal Dependency
Inventory, locus of control, and the Interpersonal Sensitivity
Measure--were then compared. Patients with nonmelancholic-nonendogenous
depression were generally rated as having more vulnerable personality
styles, but the differences were dependent on the particular diagnostic
system used. A principal components analysis isolated three underlying
personality constructs--dependency, introversion, and timidity. Patients
with nonmelancholic-nonendogenous depression scored as significantly more
dependent.
