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Subjective bias in reports of poor work adjustment in depressed patients
Author(s) -
Morgado A.,
Raoux N.,
Smith M.,
Allilaire J.F.,
Widlöcher D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1989.tb03023.x
Subject(s) - pessimism , psychology , rating scale , depression (economics) , psychiatry , clinical psychology , depressive symptoms , major depressive episode , severity of illness , developmental psychology , anxiety , mood , philosophy , epistemology , economics , macroeconomics
— Twenty‐five depressed inpatients were asked to report their adjustment at work during the 4‐month period preceding their hospitalization. Two separate reports were given: the first during the acute illness phase and the second one 10–28 days later, after symptomatic remission following standardized pharmacotherapy. Thirty‐two percent more patient ratings showed absence of adjustment problems on the second report compared with the first. Significant differences between the 2 reports were found in 7 of the 9 items on the Structured and Scaled Interview to Assess Maladjustment, which is designed to assess specific aspects of maladjustment at work. The changes in the scores of maladjustment correlated with the changes in the scores of depressive symptoms, and 40% of the variation in maladjustment scores was accounted for by the pessimism item of the Montgomery‐Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Much of the poor work adjustment reported by the acutely depressed patients thus seems to be caused by symptom‐related subjective bias.