Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:49:21.292Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Feelings of Guilt in Major Depression

Conceptual and Psychometric Aspects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. E. Berrios ,
A. Bulbena ,
N. Bakshi ,
T. R. Dening ,
A. Jenaway ,
H. Markar ,
R. Martin-Santos  and
S. L. Mitchell
G. E. Berrios*
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
A. Bulbena
Affiliation:
University of Bilbao
N. Bakshi
Affiliation:
Guy's Hospital, London
T. R. Dening
Affiliation:
Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge
A. Jenaway
Affiliation:
Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge
H. Markar
Affiliation:
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Welwyn Garden City
R. Martin-Santos
Affiliation:
Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
S. L. Mitchell
Affiliation:
Northampton Health Authority
*
∗Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital (Level 4), Hills Road, Cambridge
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A new scale for the evaluation of feelings of guilt is described. Two types of guilt feeling were of potential interest: ‘delusional’ guilt or shame (experienced in relation to one's actions), and ‘affective’ guilt (a more general feeling of unworthiness). Reliability and validity analyses for the first (15–item) version of the scale were performed in three separate and contrasting clinical samples. The second and final (seven-item) version was tested in another sample of major depressives and in normal controls. The HRSD was used as a measure of severity throughout. The BDI and Widlöcher psychomotor retardation scale were also used as external criteria for the seven-item scale. Exploratory factor analysis of this sample yielded two factors – ‘cognitive/attitudinal’ and ‘mood/feeling’ – of which only the first correlated with scores for psychomotor retardation. It is suggested that these two factors represent two forms of guilt, but that only the former is related to a putative dopaminergic disorder. Guilt scores and measures of severity were not correlated. It is suggested that feelings of guilt should be considered as a behavioural marker for a subtype of depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 6 , June 1992 , pp. 781 - 787
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, K. (1942) Selected Papers on Psycho-analysis. London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Abramson, L. Y. & Sackheim, H. A. (1977) A paradox of depression: uncontrollability and self-blame. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 838–851.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Anonymous (1932) Culpa. In Enciclopedia Universal Illustrada Europeo-Americana, vol. 16, pp. 1082–1084. Bilbao: Espasa Calpe.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, J., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.Google Scholar
Berrios, G. E. (1985) The psychopathology of affectivity: conceptual and historical aspects. Psychological Medicine, 15, 745–758.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berrios, G. E. (1990) Feelings of fatigue and psychopathology: a conceptual history. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31, 140–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berrios, G. E. & Canagasabey, A. F. B. (1990) Depression, spontaneous eye blink rate and ECT-enhanced DA receptor sensitivity. Convulsive Therapy, 6, 224–230.Google Scholar
Billod, E. (1856) Des diverses formes de lypémanie. Essai de classification et sémiologie. Annates Médico-Psychologiques, 2, 309–338.Google Scholar
Blazer, D., Bachar, J. R. & Hughes, D. C. (1987) Major depression with melancholia: a comparison of middle aged and elderly adults. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 35, 927–932.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brandon, S. G. F. (1973) Sin and salvation. In Dictionary of the History of Ideas (ed. Wiener, P. P.), vol. 4, pp. 224–234. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.Google Scholar
Budd, M. (1989) Wittgenstein's Philosophy of Psychology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Buss, A. H. & Durkee, A. (1957) An inventory for assessing different kinds of hostility. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 343–349.Google Scholar
Carroll, J. (1985) Guilt. The Grey Eminence Behind Character, History and Culture. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Castilla del Pino, C. (1973) La culpa. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.Google Scholar
Chaslin, Ph. (1912) Eléments de sémiologie et clinique mentales. Paris: Asselin and Houzeau.Google Scholar
Cronbach, L. J., Gleser, G. C., Nanda, H., et al (1972) The Dependability of Behavioral Measurements: Theory of Generalizability for Scores and Profiles. New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Ferrater Mora, J. (1958) Conciencia. In Dictionario de Filosofia, pp. 253–257. Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana.Google Scholar
Freud, S. (1937) New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis. London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Glassman, A. H. & Roos, E. S. P. (1981) Delusional depression. A distinct clinical entity? Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 424–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1959) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 26, 56–62.Google Scholar
Harrow, M. & Amdur, M. J. (1971) Guilt and depressive disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 25, 240–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesnard, A. (1949) L'Univers morbide de la faute. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Jaspers, K. (1932) Philosophic vol. 2. Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Jones, O. R. (ed.) (1971) The Private Language Argument. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Klass, E. T. (1987) Situational approach to assessment of guilt: development and validation of a self-report measure. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 9, 35–48.Google Scholar
Kline, E. (1966) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, vol 1, p. 686. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publications.Google Scholar
Laplanche, J. & Pontalis, J. B. (1973) The Language of Psychoanalysis, pp. 414–415. London: Hogarth Press.Google Scholar
Leckman, J. F., Caruso, K. A., Prussoff, B. A., et al (1984) Appetite disturbance and excessive guilt in major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 839–844.Google Scholar
Lewis, H. B. (1971) Shame and Guilt in Neurosis. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
MacCurdy, J. T. (1925) The Psychology of Emotion. Morbid and Normal, p. 395. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner.Google Scholar
McKenzie, J. G. (1962) Guilt. London: George Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Morphew, J. A. (1968) Religion and attempted suicide. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 14, 188–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mosher, D. L. (1966) The development and multitrait-multimethod matrix analysis of three measures of three aspects of guilt. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 30, 25–29.Google Scholar
Mosher, D. L. (1968) Measurement of guilt in females by self-report inventories. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 690–695.Google Scholar
Otterracher, J. R. & Munz, D. (1973) State-trait measure of experiential guilt. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 40, 115–121.Google Scholar
Prosen, M., Clark, D. C., Harrow, M., et al (1983) Guilt and conscience in major depressive illness. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 839–844.Google Scholar
Rust, J. & Golombok, S. (1989) Modern Psychometrics. The Science of Psychological Assessment. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shapiro, M. B. (1979) The relation of guilt and other feelings to the diagnosis of depression. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 123–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Small, G. W., Komanduri, R., Gitlin, M., et al (1986) The influence of age on guilt expression in major depression. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 1, 121–126.Google Scholar
Smeeton, N. C., Wilkinson, D. G., Gomez-Beneyto, M., et al (1990) A tale of two cities: repetition of parasuicide in Edinburgh (Scotland) and Valencia (Spain). Statistician, 39, 365–371.Google Scholar
SpitzER, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for a Selected Group of Functional Disorders (3rd edn). New York: New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Stein, E. V. (1968) Guilt: Theory and Therapy. Philadelphia: Westminster Press.Google Scholar
Widlöcher, D. J. (1983) Psychomotor retardation: clinical, theoretical and psychometric aspects. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 6, 27–40.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.