Data from five psychiatric populations and a community sample are presented on the CES-D, 20-item self-report depression symptom scale developed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies. Results show that the scale is a sensitive tool for detecting depressive symptoms and change in symptoms over time in psychiatric populations, and that it agrees quite well with more lengthy self-report scales used in clinical studies and with clinician interview ratings. Although a symptom scale cannot differentiate between diagnositc groups, the CES-D has demonstrated its validity as a screening tool for detecting depressive symptoms in psychiatric populations.
Forty-two chronic schizophrenic patients were evaluated for extent of hedonic deficit and compared with a demographically matched sample of normals. Schizophrenics rated themselves as experiencing significantly less pleasure on four of ten pleasure factors. When the schizophrenic sample was divided into depressed and non-depressed subgroups, the depressed subgroup was found to account for these differences in pleasure between schizophrenics and normals. Psychobiological implications of these results are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.