A BRIEF SELF-REPORT DEPRESSION MEASURE ASSESSING MOOD STATE AND SOCIAL IMPAIRMENT

Many measures of depression severity appear confounded by including de pressive sub-typing features. We report the design of a brief (11 item ) self-report scale of depression severity (the AUSSI), assessing both mood state and social impairment domains, and designed to be independ ent of sub-typing features. Mood severity and functional impairment sc ores demonstrated some independence in a sample of 360 patients. Patie nts with a 'melancholic' depressive type (categorised by four differin g systems) differed from residual 'non-melancholic' depressed patients by having higher impairment scores, but the assigned groups did not d iffer, in the main, by mood severity scores. Advantages of the measure are summarised.