THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL COGNITIVE VARIABLES ON THE INITIAL LEVEL OF DEPRESSION AND RECOVERY

Thirty-seven patients who fulfilled DSM-III-R criteria for Major Depre ssive Disorder were recruited for a double-blind controlled trial of D esipramine and placebo for 6 weeks. Data about social cognitive variab les, including social adversities, investment in roles and goals, gene ral social support and crisis support were collected. Crisis support h ad a moderating effect on the initial level of depression: the more cr isis support the subjects had, the less depressed they were on recruit ment. Initial level of depression, the experience of adversity and dru gs all contributed significantly to recovery defined as Hamilton Ratin g for Depression less than 10 at week 6. When recovery was defined as Hamilton score halved or more than halved between week 2 and week 6, s ubjects' level of ideal emotional support, and whether they had experi enced adversity in their most invested domains, contributed significan tly to recovery, independent of any drug effects or the initial level of depression. The higher their level of ideal emotional support, the less was the chance of these subjects recovering. The findings of this study pointed to the importance of controlling for psycho-social vari ables in studies of response to treatment.