The research titled ‘Clinical Features and Functioning of Patients with Minor Depression’ was published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics on August 21, 2008. The study sought to describe the clinical features as well as the functioning of outpatients who were diagnosed with minor depression. The researchers developed four research questions. What are the characteristics of minor depression? Is there a difference between the severity of functional impairment related to minor depression and that of MDD? Does minor depression occur independent of MDD? Does the functional impairment and depressive severity of minor depression significantly differ between patients with MDD and those with an MDD history? Consequently, the researchers came up with four hypotheses. First, minor depression is primarily characterized by cognitive and mood symptoms and not neurovegetative symptoms. Secondly, the severity of functional impairment related to minor depression is similar to that of MDD. Thirdly, they hypothesized that the occurrence of minor depression may either be independent of MDD or may occur in a patient with MDD as an illness stage. Lastly, they hypothesized that the functional impairment and depressive severity of minor depression does not significantly differ between patients with MDD and those with an MDD history. This study was chosen because it is consistent with the topic of depression and it is under clinical psychology.
The target population was patients with at least two symptoms of MDD with emphasis on depressed mood as one of the symptoms. The researchers used simple random sampling to obtain a sample.93 subjects were recruited randomly to constitute the sample size. The researchers recruited study participants who were diagnosed with minor depression through community advertising and referrals. All ethical measures were undertaken seeking approval of the relevant IRB and asking participants to sign consent forms. The researchers used several standard clinical psychology assessment techniques to obtain data such as DSM-IV (SCID), 17-item HAM-D, Clinician Rated (IDS-C), 36 item MOS among others. The researchers obtained descriptive statistics from the data obtained from patients in order to describe the sample. The researchers then performed Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, t-tests and Wilcoxon rank sum tests at 5 per cent significance level.
The mean age of the subjects was 46.8 years with a standard deviation of 14.7 years. 53.8 per cent of the participants were male while 46.2 per cent of the participants were female. 87.1 per cent were white, 3.2 percent were African-American, 2.2 percent were Asian, 1.1 percent were native Hawaiian and the ethnicity of the remaining 6.4 percent was unknown. The research revealed that minor depression is primarily characterized by cognitive and mood symptoms and not neurovegetative symptoms. The common symptoms among the participants were an irritable, anxious or sad mood; low energy; and low interest. They also exhibited low concentration, low enjoyment and a pessimistic outlook of themselves and the future. The researchers confirmed their hypothesis that the severity of functional impairment related to minor depression is similar to that of MDD. The research also revealed that the occurrence of minor depression may either be independent of MDD or may occur in a patient with MDD as an illness stage. Lastly, the research revealed that the functional impairment and depressive severity of minor depression does not significantly differ between patients with MDD and those with an MDD history. The researchers concluded that the findings of the study was in congruence with the view that minor depression is a central clinical entity within the wider continuum of depressive disorders. A view that is support by Bird and Blair who asserted that depression is an illness that can be treated with clinical intervention.
References
Bird, M., & Blair, A. (2010). Clinical Psychology and anxiety and depression in dementia: Three case studies. Nordic Psychology, 43-54.
Howland, R. H., Schettler, P. J., Rapaport , M. H., Mischoulon, D., Schneider, T., Fasiczka, A., . . . Nierenberg , A. A. (2008). Clinical Features and Functioning of Patients with Minor Depression. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 384-390.
