POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER AND COMORBID MAJOR DEPRESSION - IS THE CORRELATION AN ILLUSION

We have examined data from 107 motor-vehicle accident (MVA) victims wi th regard to whether the presence of comorbid depression is important clinically, and with regard to whether the threshold for diagnosing th e comorbid depression should be raised because of symptom overlap betw een posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depression. Of the 62 MVA victims who met the criteria for PTSD 1 to 4 months post-MVA, 3 3 also met the criteria for major depression, with 27 cases for which the depression occurred post-MVA. A LISREL 8.12a analysis indicates th at PTSD and major depression are correlated, but independent, response s to trauma. Those with PTSD and depression are more subjectively dist ressed, suffer more major role impairment, and remit less readily over the first 6 months of prospective follow-up than those with PTSD alon e. The threshold for diagnosing comorbid depression (5 or 6 depressive symptoms versus 7 to 9 depressive symptoms) has no important effects on any of the indicators of ''caseness.'' (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Lt d.