Manifestation Of Depressive Symptoms Research Articles

Avoidance Coping Behaviors and Low Social Support Are Related to Depressive Symptoms in HTV-Positive Patients in Japan

The authors examined the influences of several psychosocial factors (i.e., coping behavior responses, social support, etc.) on mood states in 47 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients without the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). No patients fulfilled the DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for mood disorders, including major depression. However, the HIV group indicate significantly stronger depressive symptoms and lower social support than the healthy control group. The strength of depressive symptoms and poor social support were significantly correlated with one another. Although the HIV group indicated significantly stronger active coping behaviors than the healthy control group, depressive symptoms were significantly and positively correlated with avoidance coping behaviors. When existence of social support was controlled for, this significant correlation was not noted, indicating that avoidance coping behaviors are independently and significantly related to depressive symptoms. The results suggest that, although depressive symptoms are not strong enough to warrant a psychiatric diagnosis of mood disorders, including major depression, avoidance coping behaviors and poor existence of social support may be a high-risk combination for the manifestation of depressive symptoms in HIV-positive patients without AIDS in Japan.

Social support, coping, and depressive symptoms in a late-middle-aged sample of patients reporting cardiac illness.

This study tests a 1-year predictive model of depressive symptoms in a late-middle-aged sample of patients reporting diagnoses of cardiac illness. Results based on 325 individuals (248 men and 77 women) diagnosed with chronic cardiac illness, 71 individuals (52 men and 19 women) diagnosed with acute cardiac illness, and 219 healthy controls (129 men and 90 women) strongly supported the hypotheses. Compared with healthy persons, individuals with chronic and those with acute cardiac illness reported more depressive symptoms at follow-up. Women overall showed more depressive symptoms than did men, and women with cardiac illness were particularly vulnerable to behavioral manifestations of depressive symptoms. Integrative time-lag and prospective structural equation models indicated that, for individuals with cardiac illness, social support and adaptive coping strategies predicted fewer depressive symptoms.

Application of DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive episode to elderly subjects with and without dementia.

The aim of the present study was to see how DSM-III-R criteria for a major depressive episode functioned in a representative sample of elderly subjects with and without dementia. Data were used from a population-based study of individuals 75 years old or older living in Stockholm. Subjects were screened for dementia by using the Mini-Mental State. Subjects with scores of 23 or lower as well as age- and sex-matched subjects with scores of 24 or higher were given a medical examination. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R and staged for severity by using the Washington University Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. The Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale was used to record symptoms of depression, which were then classified according to DSM-III-R criteria for a major depressive episode. Data on depressive symptoms were available for 643 individuals: 213 with and 430 without dementia. A principal component analysis was carried out on the nine symptoms from criterion. A for a major depressive episode. The depressive symptoms clustered into two groups: mood disturbance and motivation disturbance. The mood disturbance symptoms were most frequent in subjects with mild dementia and less frequent in those with more severe dementia; the subjects with the most severe dementia had the highest rates of motivation disturbance symptoms. The different manifestations of depression in elderly patients with and without dementia should be taken into account when making the diagnosis of major depression. Further research is needed on the manifestations of depressive symptoms in the elderly in order to validate the diagnostic criteria.

Manifestation of Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents

The purpose of this research was to investigate differential manifestation of depressive symptomatology among adolescents from diverse ethnocultural groups. Data from a national survey of persons 12 to 17 years of age (N = 2200) were analyzed, comparing responses of Anglo, African, Mexican, and other Hispanic Americans with a 12-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The results indicated minimal differences in terms of item response and internal consistency-reliability among the four adolescent groups. However, there were differences in patterns of item endorsement, as indicated by principal component factor analysis. Anglo- and African Americans exhibited similar factor structure, represented by negative affect, positive affect, and psychosomatic symptoms. The two Hispanic groups also exhibited a three-dimensional pattern, but there was a tendency among Hispanic adolescents for somatic symptoms and negative affect symptoms to cluster together. This pattern may indicate a more prominent role of somatic complaints in the presentation of depression among Mexican Americans and other Hispanics.