Selected Physiological and Psychomotor Correlates of Depression in Psychiatric Patients

Abstract

Selected physiological and psychomotor variables of depressed and nondepressed psychiatric patients were investigated. A comparison of the fractionated MMPI D Scale and Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) was also made. A further subsidiary problem studied was the role of alcoholism in depression as it contributed to selected physiological and psychomotor variables. Participants in this study consisted of 69 male psychiatric patients between the ages of 20 and 50 years. All patients were tested within 48 hours after admission to the Toledo State Hospital and prior to the administration of medication. Previous research indicating that motor dysfunction was closely related to the degree of psychopathology was generally not substantiated by this investigation. It was concluded that the patient's verbalization of physiological and psychomotor retardation appeared to mirror his affective state rather than his physical competence. The SDS appeared to be the most efficacious method of assessing quantitatively the common clinical view of depression. The alcoholic patient appeared to be characterized by an elevated “preparedness to react.”