SOCIAL FUNCTIONING AND RESIDUAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG OUTPATIENTS WHO RESPONDED TO TREATMENT AND RECOVERED FROM MAJOR DEPRESSION

It is unclear whether depressed patients who respond to treatment, and subsequently recover, manifest a significant degree of residual sympt omatology and enduring psychosocial impairment. The purpose of this st udy was to compare the social functioning and symptoms of depressed ou tpatients who responded to acute treatment, and had a sustained recove ry from major depression for 6 months, with psychiatrically normal com munity samples. The sample (n = 48) was drawn from the NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program. The Social Adjustment Sc ale scores and the Symptom Check List of recovered patients were clini cally indistinguishable from the community sample scores. These data s uggest that patients who benefit from acute treatment and recover from major depression can expect to achieve a normal level of functioning and symptomatology. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.