Some indicators of depressive patient's viewpoint about themselves and their relationship with external observer's evaluations

Summary

From a set of non-clinical indicators, which allowed cross-validation of inter group diagnostic separations reported elsewhere concerning three samples of subjects, respectively, neurotic depressive, acute paranoid schizophrenic and a group of normal volunteers, we studied data obtained either throught the content analysis of verbal communication or, else, using a specially designed self rating scale. We added some indicator variables which had not yet been analysed to these variables of observations obtained previously, which had allowed a significant intergroup separation when we used Multivariate Discriminant Analysis. We then used Principal Component Analysis on a final subset of 21 variables. The relational structures which were identified are interpreted. Data recorded in the group of neurotic depressive patients are compared with those observed in the group of normal volunteers as well as of acute paranoid patients. We could identify three different factorial structures, common to the three groups. Nevertheless there were observed differences between each other in the frequency of the variates which had significant loadings in the principal component factors.