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Depressed Group (depressed + group)
Selected AbstractsStuck in the past: negative bias, explanatory style, temporal order, and evaluative perspectives in life narratives of clinically depressed individualsDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 11 2008Tilmann Habermas Ph.D. Abstract This study attempted to replicate negative bias and depressive explanatory style in depression using life narratives. The two central aspects of narrative, temporal succession and evaluation, were also explored. These aspects were tested for the first time using entire life narratives of 17 depressed inpatients and non-depressed controls matched for sex and educational level. Negative bias and depressive explanatory style were replicated as typical for the depressed group. Life narratives of depressed patients also deviated more from a linear temporal order and compared less frequently the past with the present. Contrary to expectations, the depressed did not differ in the overall frequency of evaluations. However, they used more past than present evaluations and more experience-near evaluations than cognitive evaluations, suggesting that they are more immersed in past experiences. It is concluded that negative bias and depressive explanatory style can be found also in a naturalistic narrative measure, and that depression affects the two major aspects of narrative. It is argued that life narratives, as measures close to everyday clinical practice and as the most encompassing form of self-representation, should complement more experimental procedures in the study of cognitive and communicative processes in psychopathology. Depression and Anxiety, 2008. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The effect of depression on quality of life of patients with type II diabetes mellitusDEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 2 2008brahim Eren M.D. Abstract Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a frequently encountered metabolic disease with chronic features and involves numerous complications throughout its course, which causes severe restriction and disability in an individual's life. It has been reported that the incidence of depression is higher in diabetic patients and that diabetes is one of the risk factors in the development of depression. It has also been reported that co-morbid psychiatric disorders cause further deterioration in the quality of life in diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of depression on the quality of life in type II DM patients. Sixty patients (30 females and 30 males) with current major depressive episode diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria, and 48 type II DM patients (30 females and 18 males) without a major depressive episode (non-depressed group) were included in the study. All patients were evaluated with a semi-structured interview form to assess the clinical features of DM, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and the Turkish version of The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment-Brief (WHOQOL-BREF). The HRSD and HRSA scores in the depressed group were 24.87±4.83 and 21.07±5.44, respectively, whereas those in the non-depressed group were 7.83±3.92 and 6.88±3.43, respectively. The physical health, psychological health, social relationship, environmental and social pressure domain, general health-related quality of life, overall quality of life, and WHOQOL-BREF total scores were found significantly lower in the depressed group than the non-depressed group. There were significant negative correlations between HRSD and HRSA scores and physical health, psychological health, social relationship, environmental and social pressure domain, general health-related quality of life, overall quality of life, and WHOQOL-BREF total scores. Furthermore, there were significant negative correlations between the HbA1c level and physical health, social relationship, environmental domain, social pressure domain, general health-related quality of life, overall quality of life, and WHOQOL-BREF total scores. However, there was a significant positive correlation between the level of education and physical health, psychological health, social relationship, environmental social pressure domain, overall quality of life, and WHOQOL-BREF total scores. There were significant negative correlations between social relationship domain score, and age and duration of illness. Our study demonstrates that the presence of depression in type II DM further deteriorates the quality of life of the patients. Since treating depression would have a beneficial effect on the quality of life, clinicians should carefully assess for depression associated with type II DM. Depression and Anxiety 0:1,9, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Quantifying subjective assessment of sleep and life-quality in antidepressant-treated depressed patientsHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 1 2003Andrew G. Mayers Abstract This study sought to establish a method of quantifying subjective perceptions of sleep against perceptions of life-quality and mood, using amended versions of the Pittsburgh sleep diary (PghSD) and quality of life of insomniacs (QOLI) questionnaire. Diaries and questionnaires were self-completed in participants' homes. Outpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder were compared with a healthy control group (with no history, or family history, of depression). Poorer sleepers, as determined by the sleep diary, were significantly more likely to report poorer life-quality and mood perceptions on the subsequent questionnaire. Furthermore, the depressed group reported significantly poorer perceptions of sleep quality and poorer perceptions of life-quality and mood than the control group, even though estimates of sleep disturbance were similar. This may indicate that depressed individuals experience more ,sleep distress' than healthy individuals. These results confirm the extent of subjectively reported sleep disruption in depression and demonstrate the merit of combining the amended PghSD and QOLI to quantify sleep perceptions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Neuropathological evidence for ischemia in the white matter of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in late-life depressionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 1 2003Alan J. Thomas Abstract Background Signal hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging in late-life depression are associated with treatment resistance and poor outcome. These lesions are probably vascular in origin and proposed sites for vascular damage include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Methods We therefore examined white matter in these areas for microvascular disease and evidence of ischemia using intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1). We obtained postmortem tissue from elderly depressed (n,=,20) and control (n,=,20) subjects and blindly rated microvascular disease and ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 amount using quantitative image analysis in sections of the DLPFC, ACC and occipital cortex (OC; control area). Results We found a significant increase in ICAM-1 in the deep white matter of the DLPFC in the depressed group (p,=,0.01) and a trend towards an increase for VCAM-1 (p,=,0.10). In the gyral white matter there was a trend towards significance for both molecules (p,=,0.07 and 0.10). No differences were found in the ACC or OC or for microvascular disease in any area. Conclusions These findings are consistent with white matter ischemia in the DLPFC and lend support to the ,vascular depression' hypothesis. They implicate the DLPFC as an important site in the pathogenesis of late-life depression and have major implications for the understanding and management of late-life depression and raise the possibility of novel treatments being introduced in the future. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Course of Functional Decline in Older People with Persistently Elevated Depressive Symptoms: Longitudinal Findings from the Cardiovascular Health StudyJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 4 2005Eric J. Lenze MD Objectives: To examine the relationship between persistently high depressive symptoms and long-term changes in functional disability in elderly persons. Design: A community-based, prospective, observational study. Setting: Participant data from the Cardiovascular Health Study. Participants: From the overall sample of 5,888 subjects, three types of participants were identified for this study: (1) persistently depressed individuals, who experienced an onset of depressive symptoms that persisted over 4 years (n=119); (2) temporarily depressed individuals, who experienced an onset of depressive symptoms that resolved over time (n=259); and (3) nondepressed individuals, with persistently low depressive symptoms throughout the follow-up period who were matched on baseline activity of daily living (ADL) scores, sex, and age to the previous two groups combined (n=378). Measurements: Four consecutive years of data were assessed: validated measures of depression (10-item CES-D), functional disability (10-item ADL/instrumental ADL measure), physical performance, medical illness, and cognition. Results: The persistently depressed group showed a greater linear increase in functional disability ratings than the temporarily depressed and nondepressed groups. This association between persistent depression and functional disability was robust even when controlling for baseline demographic and clinical/performance measures, including cognition. The persistently depressed group had an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 5.27 (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.03,9.16) for increased functional disability compared with the nondepressed group over 3 years of follow-up, whereas the temporarily depressed group had an adjusted OR of 2.39 (95% CI=1.55,3.69) compared with the nondepressed group. Conclusion: Persistently elevated depressive symptoms in elderly persons are associated with a steep trajectory of worsening functional disability, generating the hypothesis that treatments for late-life depression need to be assessed on their efficacy in maintaining long-term functional status as well as remission of depressive symptoms. These results also demonstrate the need for studies to differentiate between persistent and temporary depressive symptoms when examining their relationship to disability. [source] Stability of negative self-structures: A longitudinal comparison of depressed, remitted, and nonpsychiatric controlsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2007David J. A. Dozois To be considered a vulnerability marker for depression, a variable should, in addition to demonstrating sensitivity and specificity, also show evidence of temporal stability (i.e., remain present in the absence of depressive symptomatology). Although many cognitive factors are associated with depression, the majority of them appear to be episode rather than vulnerability markers. This study examined cognitive organization of positive and negative interpersonal and achievement content in clinically depressed, remitted, and nonpsychiatric controls. At initial assessment, a sample of 54 clinically depressed individuals and 37 never-depressed controls completed self-report measures of positive and negative automatic thoughts and two cognitive organizational tasks. They were retested 6 months later when half of the depressed group no longer met diagnostic criteria for major depression. Negative automatic thoughts decreased and positive automatic thoughts increased significantly in individuals who had improved clinically. The organization of negative interpersonal content remained stable despite symptom amelioration, but negative achievement content was less interconnected at follow-up in those patients who had improved. The structure of relational schemas, in particular, appears to be stable and may be an important cognitive vulnerability factor for depression. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 63: 319,338, 2007. [source] Alpha2 macroglobulin elevation without an acute phase response in depressed adults with Down's syndrome: implications,JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2000J. A. Tsiouris Abstract Studies of immune function during depression in persons without intellectual disability (ID) have revealed elevated levels of ,2 macroglobulin (,2M) and an acute phase protein (APP) response. Clinical observation suggests that people with Down's syndrome (DS) may have associated genetic abnormalities in their immune systems. The APP response and ,2M changes in depressed versus non-depressed adults with DS was the subject of the present study. The serum pan-proteinase inhibitor ,2M, and the AP proteins c-reactive protein (CRP), ,1 antitrypsin (,1AT), ceruloplasmin (Cp), ,2 Macroglobulin (,2M), transthyretin (Trans), serum amyloid protein (SAP), and albumin (Alb) were measured in 38 adults with DS, 19 of whom were diagnosed with and 19 without depression using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The DSM-IV criteria were used for diagnoses. Medical and neurological examinations excluded medical disorders associated with APP response. Only ,2M and CRP were significantly different in the depressed versus non-depressed groups. The ,2M was higher, a response similar to one observed in depressed people without ID, but the CRP was lower in the depressed group, especially in those subjects not on psychotropic medications, contrary to the expected APP response to depression. The results suggest that ,2M elevation in depressed adults with DS is independent of the APP response. An alternative explanation for its elevation is proposed linking the core symptom of depression with the mammalian dormancy/hibernation process. Further studies are needed to confirm that ,2M elevation is specific to depression and that it might provide a helpful marker for the diagnosis of depression in people with ID. [source] |