title: Melancholia and axis II comorbidity.
abstract: This study assessed whether the rates of comorbid personality disorders differed between DSM-IV melancholic and nonmelancholic major depressive disorder. We evaluated 260 consecutive depressed outpatients (140 women [53.8%]; mean age, 39.01 +/- 10.4 years) with DSM-III-R major depressive disorder (MDD). MDD was diagnosed with the use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-Patient Edition (SCID-P); enrolled patients were required to have a score >/= 16 on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17). The presence of the melancholic subtype of major depression was determined with the use of a DSM-IV checklist, while the presence of personality disorders was assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R-Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Of the 102 (39.2%) patients who met criteria for melancholic depression and the 158 (60.7%) who did not, there were no significant differences in age, gender, or rates of personality disorder diagnoses. We observed no significant difference in rates of individual personality disorder clusters between melancholic and nonmelancholic depressed patients. Our findings of comparable rates of comorbid personality disorders between melancholic and nonmelancholic depression are consistent with the decision made by the DSM-IV task force to drop the DSM-III-R melancholic feature criterion of "no significant personality disturbance before first major depressive episode" as they challenge the usefulness of trying to establish such absence of premorbid personality features in acutely depressed patients.
authors.affiliation: Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tedlow
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Neault
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Polania
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nierenberg
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fava
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index