Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T07:15:55.340Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Situational Depression: Validity of the Concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Robert M. A. Hirschfeld
Robert M. A. Hirschfeld*
Affiliation:
Center for Studies of Affective Disorders, Clinical Research Branch, Division of Extramural Research Programs, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The validity of the concept of situational (i.e. reactive) depression as distinct from other major depressive subtypes is examined in terms of psychosocial stressors, personality features, current symptomatology, and clinical course and follow-up. Thirty-eight patients with a recent onset of situational major depressive disorder (i.e. the disorder developed after an event or in a situation the diagnostician deemed likely to have contributed to the episode at that time) were compared with 68 non-situational major depressive patients. These patients were participants in the clinical studies of the NIMH-Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression. No significant differences between the two groups were found in the total number, content areas, or other categorizations of life events, experienced prior to onset. Some statistically significant differences in current symptomatology and in clinical course and follow-up measures were obtained, but there were none in personality traits. Implications of these results in relation to previously published reports are discussed and caution is recommended in the use of the term situational depression until more definitive data become available.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 139 , Issue 4 , October 1981 , pp. 297 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

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

Andrews, G., Tennant, C., Hewson, D. M. & Vaillant, G. E. (1978) Life event stress, social support, coping style, and risk of psychological impairment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 166, 307–16.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Sklair, F., Harris, T. O. & Birley, J. L. T. (1973) Life events and psychiatric disorders. Part I: Some methodological issues. Psychological Medicine, 3, 74—87.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1962) Manual of Maudsley Personality Inventory. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.Google Scholar
Grant, I., Sweetwood, H. L., Yager, J. & Gerst, M. S. (1978) Patterns in the relationship of life events and psychiatric symptoms over time. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 22, 183–91.Google Scholar
Guilford, J. P. & Zimmerman, W. S. (1949) The Guilford- Zimmerman Temperament Survey: Manual. Beverly Hills, California: Sheridan Supply Co.Google Scholar
Hamilton, M. & White, J. M. (1959) Clinical syndromes in depressive states. Journal of Mental Science, 105, 985–98.Google Scholar
Hathaway, S. R. & McKinley, J. C. (1951) The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Hirschfeld, R. M. A., Klerman, G. L., Gough, H. G., Barrett, J., Korchin, S. J. & Chodoff, P. (1977) A measure of interpersonal dependency. Journal of Personality Assessment, 41, 610–18.Google Scholar
Hirschfeld, R. M. A. & Klerman, G. L. (1979) Personality attributes and affective disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 67—70.Google ScholarPubMed
Hirschfeld, R. M. A., Klerman, G. L., Schless, A. P., Endicott, J., Lichtenstaedter, S. & Clayton, P. J. (1977) The Modified Life Events Section of the Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Interview (PERI—M). Rockville, Maryland: National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Research Branch.Google Scholar
Holmes, T. H. & Rahe, R. H. (1967) The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11, 213–18.Google Scholar
Ilfeld, F. W. (1977) Current social stressors and symptoms of depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 161–6.Google Scholar
Jacobs, S. C., Prusoff, B. A. & Paykel, E. S. (1974) Recent life events in schizophrenia and depression. Psychological Medicine, 4, 444–53.Google Scholar
Katz, M. M. & Klerman, G. L. (1979) Introduction: Overview of the Clinical Studies Program of the National Institute of Mental Health—Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 49—51.Google Scholar
Katz, M. M., Secunda, S. K., Hirschfeld, R. M. A. & Koslow, S. H. (1979) National Institute of Mental Health—Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 765–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiloh, L. G., Andrews, G., Neilson, M. & Bianchi, G. N. (1972) The relationship of the syndromes called endogenous and neurotic depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 183–96.Google Scholar
Klerman, G. L., Endicott, J., Spitzer, R. L. & Hirschfeld, R. M. A. (1979) Neurotic depressions: A systematic analysis of multiple criteria and meanings. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 57—61.Google Scholar
Larkin, B. H. & Hirschfeld, R. M. A. (1977) The Personal History of Depressive Disorders (PHDDP). Rockville, Maryland: National Institute of Mental Health, Clinical Research Branch.Google Scholar
Lazare, A., Klerman, G. L. & Armor, D. J. (1966) Oral, obsessive, and hysterical personality patterns. Archives of General Psychiatry, 14, 624–30.Google Scholar
Mendels, J. & Cochrane, C. (1968) The nosology of depression: the endogenous-reactive concept. American Journal of Psychiatry, 124, (Suppl.), 1–11.Google Scholar
Myers, J. K., Lindenthal, J. J. & Pepper, M. P. (1971) Life events and psychiatric impairment. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 152, 149–57.Google Scholar
Myers, J. K., Lindenthal, J. J. & Pepper, M. P. (1972) Life events and mental status: A longitudinal study. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 13, 398—406.Google Scholar
Myers, J. K., Lindenthal, J. J. & Pepper, M. P. (1975) Life events, social integration, and psychiatric symptomatology. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 16, 421–7.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Myers, J. K., Dienalt, M. N., Klerman, G. L., Lindenthal, J. J. & Pepper, M. P. (1969) Life events and depression: a controlled study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 21, 753–60.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, S. H. & Gudeman, J. E. (1967) The endogenous depressive pattern. Archives of General Psychiatry, 16, 241–9.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, S. H., Gudeman, J. E. & Klerman, G. L. (1966) Content and consistency in the endogenous depressive pattern. British Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 471–84.Google Scholar
Shapiro, R. & Keller, M. (1979) Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation (LIFE). Boston, Massachusetts: Lindemann Mental Health Center.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L. & Endicott, J. (1979) Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), Third Edition. New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robins, E. (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773–85.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H., Lipman, R. S., Balter, M. B. & Stern, M. (1974) Symptom intensity and life stress in the city. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 759–64.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H. & Paykel, E. S. (1973) Symptom intensity and life events. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 473–7.Google Scholar
Warheit, G. J. (1979) Life events, coping, stress, and depressive symptomatology. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 502–7.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.