AFFECTIVE STATES IN NORMAL AND DEPRESSED OLDER-PEOPLE

Ratings on a 10-item affect checklist yielding composite positive affe ct and negative affect scores were made daily for 30 days by older peo ple in residential care: 19 were diagnosed as having major depression, 21 had minor depression, and 37 were without psychiatric diagnosis (' 'normal''). Mean levels of positive affect were highest in normal peop le and least in those with major depression; negative affect was lowes t in normal ones and highest in those with a major depression. Variabi lity was least among those with major depression in positive affect an d among normal people in negative affect, while residents with minor d epression showed some tendency, although inconsistent, toward greater day-to-day variability in positive affect. Patterns of invariance were such that those with major depression tended to be consistently lacki ng in positive affect but were variable in negative affect; normal peo ple showed variability in positive affect but a relatively unvarying l ack of negative affect. Clinical major depression was thus characteriz ed less by ''pervasive'' depressive affect than by anhedonia.