Psychometric characteristics of ideational retardation in depressives.
In two studies we tested the assumption that slowing of ideation (the ideational counterpart of psychomotor retardation) reflects a dimension distinct from severity of depression. Specifically, we hypothesized that an objective measure of ideational retardation would be correlated with a psychomotor retardation rating scale but not with a depression severity rating scale. There was in-patients in Study 1 and 30 out-patients in Study 2; all satisfied DSM-III criteria for major depressive episode. Measurements of ideational retardation, and notably latency of response, were derived from patient responses to the Rorschach plates (Study 1) and to simplified non-figurative line drawings (Study 2). As expected, results showed that latencies of response were not significantly correlated with depression severity scores on the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating scale (r = .19 in Study 1, r = -.08 in Study 2), but were significantly correlated with the scores on the Salpétrière Retardation Rating Scale (subscale for observable items, SRRSo)(r = .71, p < .0005 in Study 1; r = .55, p < .005, in Study 2).
Brébion
G
G
New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University, NY 10032, USA.
Smith
M J
MJ
Allilaire
J F
JF
D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014796:Visual Perception