title: Talking bodies: nonverbal behavior in the assessment of depression severity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evaluations of clinical depression are traditionally based on verbal information. Nonverbal expressive behavior, however, being associated with a person's reflexive responses, may reveal negative emotional or social processes that are not under complete control of the patients. However, investigations of nonverbal behavior in the evaluation of depressed patients are still scarce. This study examines the nonverbal behaviors of a group of Brazilian patients, associating their nonverbal behavior with severity of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty depressed patients were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after a two-week transcranial direct current stimulation treatment (T1), according to rating scales and through a 21-category Ethogram for assessment of the frequency of nonverbal behaviors displayed during an interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Behaviors that were related to negative feelings and social disinterest decreased with corresponding clinical improvement and were associated with increased severity of symptoms at T0 and greater negative affect and dissatisfaction at T1. Pro-social behaviors were associated with milder symptoms at T0 and increased after treatment. Facial, head and hand expressive movements stood out as important indicators because of their associations with severity of depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Duration of behaviors was not assessed and there was not a healthy control group with which to compare the findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results support the usefulness of nonverbal behavior as an evaluation technique in the assessment of clinical depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. jufiquer@gmail.com
authors.forename: Juliana Teixeira
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Fiquer
authors.forename: Paulo Sérgio
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Boggio
authors.forename: Clarice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gorenstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; Ethogram; Nonverbal behavior; Severity