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Psycho-Social Predictors of Chronicity in Depressed Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

R. M. A. Hirschfeld*
Affiliation:
Affective and Anxiety Disorders Research Branch, Division of Clinical Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Maryland 20857, USA
G. L. Klerman
Affiliation:
Cornell University Medical College, New York, N. Y., USA
N. C. Andreasen
Affiliation:
College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
P. J. Clayton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, University Hospital, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
M. B. Keller
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School and Director of General Psychiatry Practice, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
*
Correspondence

Abstract

Nineteen patients with an episode of major depressive disorder who did not recover within two years of prospective follow-up were compared with an equal number who recovered within a year of the initial evaluation and remained well through the two-year follow-up date. The groups were individually matched for age, sex, primary/secondary status, and prior duration of episode. The only psycho-social variable that predicted chronicity was increased neuroticism on self-report personality inventories administered during the index evaluation. Early loss, recent life events, and recent social supports were not predictive of outcome.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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