Depressive Syndromes and Scales in the AMDP-System

Abstract

The Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry was founded in 1965 by a-group of psychiatrists from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It developed a uniform and comprehensive system for the documentation of psychopathological, somatic, and anamnestic findings, the AMP-System. In 1979 a revised system was introduced, the AMDP-System (5). SYNDROME SCALES IN THE AMDP-SYSTEMThe sheets "psychopathological symptoms" and "somatic signs" of the AMP-System contain 180 items. A data-reduction by means of factor-analyses seemed desirable for the examination of syndromes which are postulated as a result of clinical experiences; furthermore, it seemed necessary not only to examine clinical syndromes but also to make suggestions as to syndrome scales. Thus, the scales based on factor-analyses are further evaluated by means of the methods of classical test-theory. There are five different syndrome solutions in the AMP-System, calculated in five different samples of four different clinics with not identical methods (1). In spite of this, most authors have interpreted nine factors which show a good comparability across the 5 solutions. In our own factor analysis, the symptoms of 2269 patients on admission to the clinic of Berlin were factor-analysed to build syndromes of psychopathology. The syndromes could be cross-validated, they satisfy teststatistical criteria.In order to obtain final AMDP scales right after the revision

Understanding psychopathology in migrants: A mixed categorical-dimensional approach

“…Psychopathological and somatic items can be grouped under eight psychopathological syndromes as in Pietzcker et al (1983): of these, we have used those syndromes that in literature are more often used and significantly associated to clinical diagnoses, namely depressive, positive (paranoid-hallucinatory), negative (apathetic) and somatic (autonomic) syndromes. Positive and negative syndromes have already been shown to be structural psychopathological dimensions in non-affective psychoses (Cuesta & Peralta, 2001) and in first-episode psychoses (Cuesta, Peralta, Gil & Artamendi, 2003); depressive syndrome, along with negative syndrome, is very pertinent in the assessment of depressive disorders (Pietzcker & Gebhardt, 1983), and it has been used in several studies on depressive and other common mental disorders (Barnow, Linden, Lucht & Freyberger, 2002; Diefenbacher & Heim, 1994; Möller-Leimkühler, Bottlender, Strauss & Rutz, 2004), as well as somatic syndrome (Diefenbacher & Heim, 1994; Reischies, von Spiess, & Stieglitz, 1990). Thus, we examined all the 43 psychopathological and somatic items that are included in these four syndromes, testing their categorical correlation and their dimensional distribution in diagnostic clusters.…”

Subtypes of depression and their overlap in a naturalistic inpatient sample of major depressive disorder

“…The scale of clinical and socio‐demographic variables in psychiatry (BADO) (Cording, Gaebel, & Spengler, ) was used to record socio‐demographic and clinical variables. Psychopathological symptoms were assessed using the HAMD‐21 scale (Hamilton, ), and the 140‐item AMDP scale (Pietzcker & Gebhardt, ). To assess outcome the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) (Montgomery & Asberg, ), the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale (APA, ), the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) (APA, ) and the NEO‐Five Factor Inventory (NEO‐FFI) (Costa & McCrae, ) were administered.…”

The validity of self-rated psychotic symptoms in depressed inpatients

“…About 21% of all patients reported at least one psychotic symptom. Patients with psychotic symptoms had a higher probability to suffer from major depression (42% vs 16%), panic disorder (25% vs 4%), generalized anxiety disorder (39% vs 8%) and alcohol use disorder (13% vs 5%) [21]. Ohayon et al found similar results for hallucinations within a large general population sample ( n = 13,057).…”

“…Clinician-rated depressive symptoms were assessed with the HAMD-21 total, the MADRS and with the AMDP depression score (AMDP items 20, 60, 62, 63, 64, 71, 73, 81, 89, 102, 103, 104, 106) [21].…”