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Minor Depression (minor + depression)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	64%
Psychology	17%

Selected Abstracts

Deficits in Psychological Well-Being and Quality-of-Life in Minor Depression: Implications for DSM-V

CNS: NEUROSCIENCE AND THERAPEUTICS, Issue 4 2010
Andrew A. Nierenberg
Objective: To examine deficits in psychological well-being (PWB) and quality-of-life (QOL) in minor depressive disorder (Min D). Method: Ninety-three subjects entering a treatment study for Min D were assessed using the QOL, Enjoyment and satisfaction questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), and the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWBS). Scores were compared with major depressive disorder (MDD) and normative community samples. Results: Even though subjects had mild depressive severity, Q-LES-Q total scores for the Min D sample averaged nearly two standard deviations below the community norm. Almost 40% of Min D cases had Q-LES-Q scores in the lowest 1% of the population. Responses to most Q-LES-Q items were closer to subjects with MDD than to community norms. Mean standardized PWB scores were extremely low for subscales of Environmental Mastery and Self-Acceptance, low for Purpose in Life and Positive Relations with others, but within the normal range for Personal Growth and Autonomy. QOL and PWB measures had low correlations with depressive symptom severity, and scores were similar in the presence or absence of a prior history of MDD. Conclusions: Mild depressive symptoms with Min D are associated with major deficits in QOL and PWB measures of environmental mastery and poor self-acceptance. Our findings suggest that diminished QOL and PWB may be intrinsic cognitive aspects of Min D with or without a history of MDD. It may be unnecessary in the DSM IV-TR to exclude the diagnosis of Min D if a subject has had a past episode of MDD. ,,Minor depression exists along a continuum of depression. ,,Deficits in psychological well-being and quality-of-life in minor depression are severe. ,,No difference in these measures if minor depression existed with or without a history of major depression. [source]

Major and minor depression in Parkinson's disease: a neuropsychological investigation

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 9 2006
A. Costa
Previous studies have failed to distinguish the differential contribution of major and minor depression to cognitive impairment in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). This study was aimed at investigating the relationships among major depression (MD), minor depression (MiD) and neuropsychological deficits in PD. Eighty-three patients suffering from PD participated in the study. MD and MiD were diagnosed by means of a structured interview (SCID-I) based on the DSM-IV criteria, and severity of depression was evaluated by the Beck Depression Inventory. For the neuropsychological assessment, we used standardized scales that measure verbal and visual episodic memory, working memory, executive functions, abstract reasoning and visual-spatial and language abilities. MD patients performed worse than PD patients without depression on two long-term verbal episodic memory tasks, on an abstract reasoning task and on three measures of executive functioning. The MiD patients' performances on the same tests fell between those of the other two groups of PD patients but did not show significant differences. Our results indicate that MD in PD is associated with a qualitatively specific neuropsychological profile that may be related to an alteration of prefrontal and limbic cortical areas. Moreover, the same data suggest that in these patients MiD and MD may represent a gradual continuum associated with increasing cognitive deficits. [source]

Major depression, chronic minor depression, and the five-factor model of personality

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 4 2002
Kate L. Harkness
Fifty-eight outpatients with major depression completed the NEO Personality Inventory at intake (time 1) and after up to three months of anti-depressant treatment (time 2). Within this group, 26 patients met additional Research Diagnostic Criteria for chronic minor depression. Repeated-measures analyses revealed significant decreases in Neuroticism scores, and significant increases in Extraversion and Conscientiousness scores, from time 1 to time 2 for both patient groups. In addition, despite similar symptom severity at time 2, the patients with major depression+chronic minor depression scored significantly higher on the Angry Hostility facet of Neuroticism and significantly lower on Agreeableness than those with major depression alone. We suggest from these findings that Angry Hostility and low Agreeableness may represent a trait vulnerability in individuals with chronic minor depression that persists even following remission of the major depressive state, and that this may help to explain their high rates of relapse and recurrence. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Effects of a cognitive-behavioral group program for community-dwelling elderly with minor depression

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 6 2010
Chiu-Tien Hsu
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

The nature of informal caregiving for medically ill older people with and without depression

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2009
Jane McCusker
Abstract Objectives To describe patient and caregiver perceptions of the nature of informal caregiving in a sample of older medical inpatients with and without depression. Methods One hundred and fifty-four patient-caregiver pairs were recruited from a larger prospective observational study of three groups of medical inpatients aged 65 and over, with major, minor, and no depression, respectively, and with at most mild cognitive impairment. Interviews were conducted at the time of hospital admission to assess characteristics of patients (disability, comorbidity, perceptions of support) and caregivers (relationship, residence, types of assistance and time spent caregiving). Time spent on the physical tasks of caregiving (assistance with activities of daily living, physical care, transport) was estimated by all caregivers. Time spent on emotional or other support was estimated only for non-coresident caregivers Results In multivariable analyses, neither major nor minor depression was associated with time spent on physical support; major depression was associated with significantly increased time spent by non-coresident caregivers on emotional or other support; minor depression was associated with perceived inadequacy of support. Conclusions Major depression is independently associated with greater time spent by non-coresident caregivers on emotional or other support; minor depression is associated with perceived inadequacy of support. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

A preliminary investigation of the reliability and validity of the Brief Assessment Schedule Depression Cards and the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen to screen for depression in older stroke survivors

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 5 2008
A. K. Healey
Abstract Objective To conduct an initial assessment of the reliability and validity of the Brief Assessment Schedule Depression Cards (BASDEC) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS) to screen for depression in older stroke survivors. Methods Participants from four inpatient rehabilitation units completed the BASDEC and the BDI-FS together with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for comparison. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis 1 Disorders (SCID) was then completed with all participants to ascertain a criterion depression diagnosis. The BASDEC and BDI-FS were subsequently completed for a second time. Results Forty-nine stroke survivors (M,=,78.80, SD,=,6.79 years) were included. The BASDEC and BDI-FS demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and test,retest reliability. The BASDEC (cut-off ,7) resulted in a sensitivity of 1.0 and specificity of 0.95 for detecting major depression whereas the BDI-FS (cut-off ,4) had a sensitivity of 0.71 and specificity of 0.74. When participants with minor depression were included in analyses, sensitivity lowered to 0.69 (specificity,=,0.97) for the BASDEC and 0.62 (specificity,=,0.78) for the BDI-FS. Conclusions The BASDEC and BDI-FS were found to have acceptable reliability. The BASDEC demonstrated some advantage in criterion validity over the BDI-FS at the examined cut-offs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Construction and validation of a patient- and user-friendly nursing home version of the Geriatric Depression Scale,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 9 2007
K. Jongenelis
Abstract Objective To construct a patient- and user-friendly shortened version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) that is especially suitable for nursing home patients. Methods The study was carried out on two different data bases including 23 Dutch nursing homes. Data on the GDS (n,=,410), the Mini Mental State Examination (n,=,410) and a diagnostic interview (SCAN; n,=,333), were collected by trained clinicians. Firstly, the items of the GDS-15 were judged on their clinical applicability by three clinical experts. Subsequently, items that were identified as unsuitable were removed using the data of the Assess project (n,=,77), and internal consistency was calculated. Secondly, with respect to criterion validity (sensitivity, specitivity, area under ROC and positive and negative predictive values), the newly constructed shortened GDS was validated in the AGED data set (n,=,333), using DSM-IV diagnosis for depression as measured by the SCAN as ,gold standard'. Results The eight-item GDS that resulted from stage 1 showed good internal consistency in both the Assess data set (,,=,0.86) and the AGED dataset (,,=,0.80). In the AGED dataset, high sensitivity rates of 96.3% for major depression and 83.0% for minor depression were found, with a specificity rate of 71.7% at a cut-off point of 2/3. Conclusion The GDS-8 has good psychometric properties. Given that the GDS-8 is less burdening for the patient, more comfortable to use and less time consuming, it may be a more feasible screening test for the frail nursing home population. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Comorbidity of depression and anxiety in nursing home patients

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2005
Martin Smalbrugge
Abstract Objectives To assess the occurrence and risk indicators of depression, anxiety, and comorbid anxiety and depression among nursing home patients and to determine whether depression and anxiety are best described in a dimensional or in a categorical classification system. Methods DSM and subthreshold anxiety disorders, anxiety symptoms, major and minor depression and depressive symptoms were assessed in 333 nursing home patients of somatic wards of 14 nursing homes in the north west of the Netherlands with the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Comorbidity was studied along a severity gradient. Logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify demographic, health-related, psychosocial and care-related correlates of anxiety and depression. Results The prevalence of pure depression (PD) was 17.1%, of pure anxiety (PA) 4.8%, and of comorbid anxiety and depression (CAD) 5.1%. Comorbidity increased dependent on severity of both anxiety and depression. Different patterns of risk indicators were demonstrated for PA, PD and CAD for the investigated baseline characteristics. Conclusions Comorbidity of anxiety and depression is most prevalent in the more severe depressive and anxious nursing home patients. The gradual increase of comorbidity of anxiety and depression dependent on the levels of severity of depression and anxiety suggests that for nursing home patients a dimensional classification of depression and anxiety is more appropriate than a categorical one. The observed differences in patterns of risk indicators for PA, PD and CAD support a distinguishing of anxiety and depression. Future studies are needed to assess the effect of treatment of PA, PD and CAD in nursing home patients. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The DSM-IV ,minor depression' disorder in the oldest-old: prevalence rate, sleep patterns, memory function and quality of life in elderly people of Italian descent in Southern Brazil

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 2 2002
Flávio M. F. Xavier
Abstract Objectives (1) To describe the prevalence of minor depression in a community-dwelling population aged 80 years and over. (2) To compare the sleep pattern, memory function and the prevalence rate of other psychiatric diagnoses between normal controls and subjects with minor depressive disorder. Design A random representative sample (sample,=,77 subjects/county population of oldest-old,=,219,35%) aged 80 years or more was selected from the county of Veranópolis in the Brazilian rural southern region. Of this group, eight subjects who met the DSM-IV criteria for minor depression, and 50 subjects without diagnosed delirium disorder, cognitive or affective problems were compared. Results The prevalence rate of minor depression was 12%. Subjects with this diagnosis were more likely to complain about sleep and memory problems than elderly people without any other affective disorder (major depression or dysthymic disorder). Otherwise, objective evaluation of these two areas, memory and sleep, did not show differences between the groups. Moreover, in terms of factors such as life satisfaction and some domains from the Short-form 36 Quality of Life Scale (SF-36), subjects with minor depression presented worse self-reported evaluations. Female gender was associated (p,=,0.01) with a more frequent presence of minor depression disorder, and those with this diagnosis were more likely to have co-morbidity with generalized anxiety disorder (p,=,0.007) when compared with elderly people without any depressive disorder. Conclusion In this study, minor depression has been significantly associated with lower life satisfaction and worse indexes of life quality. The results supported the current concept that minor depression is prevalent in later life, especially among the oldest-old. Subjects with minor depression had worse self-reported opinions about memory and sleep patterns, but when these variables were objectively measured, no meaningful differences could be determined by the research team. Female gender and the concurring presence of generalized anxiety disorder were both significantly associated with the presence of minor depression diagnosis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Therapeutic factors in dysphoric disorders

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2006
Larry E. Beutler
The working group on the treatment of dysphoric disorders focused on ways to integrate variables and qualities that optimize treatment effects for this clinical population. The variables examined represent three aspects or domains of the treatment context that effect positive change. These included aspects of the patient and therapist (participant factors), those relating to the development and role of the therapeutic relationship (relationship factors), and those that defined the application of formal interventions that are implemented by the therapist (techniques factors). The treatment literature on dysphoric populations was reviewed and a variety of relationships was identified, which then were translated into principles that are thought to enhance treatment effects. The principles representing the three domains of this review are then collected, in this article, into a set of cohesive suggestions for treating patients whose problems are characterized by major or minor depression, alone or as a comorbid condition. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 62: 639,647, 2006. [source]

The Effect of Poststroke Depression on Recovery from Stroke

PSYCHOGERIATRICS, Issue 2 2002
Amane Tateno
Background: Stroke is a major health problem and poststroke depression is known to be one of the frequent and severe psychiatric complications following stroke. Methods: Based on the results of structured psychiatric mental state exams and DSM diagnostic criteria, the prevalence of poststroke depression has been examined in numerous study populations throughout the world. Longitudinal examinations have documented the effect of poststroke depression on recovery from stroke. Results: The mean prevalence of poststroke major depression was 21.1 % and minor depression was 17.1% among hospitalized or outpatient samples. Community samples showed a slightly lower rate of 14.1% and 9.1%, respectively. Furthermore, the existence of poststroke depression leads to poorer physical recovery, greater cognitive impairment, and worse recovery in activities of daily living compared with non-depressed patients. Several studies have also found that poststroke depression is associated with increased mortality compared with non-depressed patients who had comparable strokes and similar premorbid risk factors. Finally, several studies have found that successful treatment of poststroke depression improves both cognitive and physical recovery and decreases mortality. Conclusion: The current review documents the beneficial effect of identifying and treating poststroke depression on both recovery and survival following stroke. [source]

Cognitive-existential group psychotherapy for women with primary breast cancer: A randomised controlled trial

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
David W. Kissane
Background. We conducted a randomised, controlled trial of cognitive-existential group therapy (CEGT) for women with early stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy with the aim of improving mood and mental attitude to cancer. Methods. Women were randomised to 20 sessions of weekly group therapy plus 3 relaxation classes or to a control arm receiving 3 relaxation classes. Assessments, independently done at baseline, 6 and 12 months, included a structured psychiatric interview and validated questionnaires covering mood, attitudes to cancer, family relationships, and satisfaction with therapy. Results. Three hundred and three of 491 (62%) eligible patients participated over 3 years. Distress was high pre-intervention: 10% were diagnosed as suffering from major depression, 27% from minor depression and 9% from anxiety disorders. On an intention-to-treat analysis, there was a trend for those receiving group therapy (n=154) to have reduced anxiety (p=0.05, 2-sided) compared to controls (n=149). Women in group therapy also showed a trend towards improved family functioning compared to controls (p=0.07, 2-sided). The women in the groups reported greater satisfaction with their therapy (p<0.001, 2-sided), appreciating the support and citing better coping, self-growth and increased knowledge about cancer and its treatment. They valued the CEGT therapy. Overall effect size for the group intervention was small (d=0.25), with cancer recurrence having a deleterious effect in three of the 19 therapy groups. Psychologists as a discipline achieved a moderate mean effect size (d=0.52). Conclusion. CEGT is a useful adjuvant psychological therapy for women with early stage breast cancer. Interaction effects between group members and therapists are relevant to outcome. Group-as-a-whole effects are powerful, but the training and experience of the therapist is especially critical to an efficacious outcome. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Relationship of DSM-IV-Based Depressive Disorders to Smoking Cessation and Smoking Reduction in Pregnant Smokers

THE AMERICAN JOURNAL ON ADDICTIONS, Issue 4 2006
Janice A. Blalock PhD
This study investigated DSM-IV depressive disorders as predictors of smoking cessation and reduction in 81 pregnant smokers participating in a smoking cessation trial. Thirty-two percent of the sample met criteria for current dysthymia, major depressive disorder in partial remission, or minor depression. There was no significant reduction in smoking among women with or without current depressive disorders. Unexpectedly, as compared to women without depressive disorders, women with dysthymia significantly increased the mean number of cigarettes smoked (from 8 to 23 cigarettes per day during the 2 to 30 days post-targeted quit date period) and were smoking significantly more cigarettes at 30 days. A main effect approaching significance suggested that women with current depressive disorders were less likely to be abstinent than women without current depressive disorders (OR = 6.3; 3.9% vs. 12.7% at 30 days post-targeted quit date; 0% vs. 6.2% at 30 days post-partum). Results add to previous findings indicating a correlation between depressive symptoms and continued smoking in pregnant women. Further investigation of mood-focused smoking cessation interventions may be warranted. [source]