DEPRESSION AND EVERYDAY SOCIAL-INTERACTION

The present study examined the relationships between depressive sympto ms and everyday social interaction in a nonclinical population. Depres sive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studi es Depression Scale, and social interaction was measured using a varia nt of the Rochester Interaction Record. People who were classified as at risk for depression had less rewarding interactions than people who were not at risk. Depressive symptoms and interaction quantity and qu ality were negatively correlated for participants above the cutpoint, whereas they were uncorrelated for those below the at-risk cutpoint. T he results also suggested that, compared with nondepressed people, dep ressed people derive more rewards from interactions with their closest opposite sex friends, relative to the rewards they derive from intera ctions with other opposite-sex friends.