A comparison of linguistic patterns between individuals with current major depressive disorder, past major depressive disorder, and controls in a virtual, psychiatric research interview

Abstract

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a leading health burden worldwide. Previous research has demonstrated that linguistic analysis of depressed individuals’ written and oral speech has potential as a diagnostic and monitoring biomarker. We sought to determine if the semantic content of speech differs between individuals with current MDD, past MDD, and controls. We recruited 53 volunteers for a simulated telehealth psychiatric intake interview. The sample included 14 individuals with current MDD, 21 with past MDD, and 18controls, all confirmed using a semi-structured diagnostic interview. The manually-transcribed interview transcripts were analyzed utilizing the LIWC-22 dictionary and statistical tests were applied to identify differences in the linguistic patterns between each clinical categorization. When comparing depressed subjects (either current or past) versus controls, significant differences were found for emotional tone, total function words, auxiliary verbs, negative tone, negative emotion, anxiety, sadness, attention, and visual. Individuals with past MDD only differed from those with current MDD in use of analytical thinking and auxiliary verbs. These results indicate that LIWC categories could differentiate current or past depressed subjects from controls, but fewer differences emerged when comparing current and past MDD. Further prospective studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings.