Feelings of guilt in major depression. Conceptual and psychometric aspects.
A new scale for the evaluation of feelings of guilt is described. Two types of guilt feeling were of potential interest: 'delusional' guilt or shame (experienced in relation to one's actions), and 'affective' guilt (a more general feeling of unworthiness). Reliability and validity analyses for the first (15-item) version of the scale were performed in three separate and contrasting clinical samples. The second and final (seven-item) version was tested in another sample of major depressives and in normal controls. The HRSD was used as a measure of severity throughout. The BDI and Widlöcher psychomotor retardation scale were also used as external criteria for the seven-item scale. Exploratory factor analysis of this sample yielded two factors--'cognitive/attitudinal' and 'mood/feeling'--of which only the first correlated with scores for psychomotor retardation. It is suggested that these two factors represent two forms of guilt, but that only the former is related to a putative dopaminergic disorder. Guilt scores and measures of severity were not correlated. It is suggested that feelings of guilt should be considered as a behavioural marker for a subtype of depression.
Berrios
G E
GE
Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Bulbena
A
A
Bakshi
N
N
Dening
T R
TR
Jenaway
A
A
Markar
H
H
Martin-Santos
R
R
Mitchell
S L
SL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D004739:England / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013030:Spain / Q000208:ethnology