Effects of depressed mood versus clinical depression on neuropsychologicaltest performance among African American men impacted by HIV/AIDS

utility of self-report measures in identifying those at risk for depressive disorder and the adverse impact of depression versus depressed mood and HI V serostatus on neuropsychological (NP) test performance were examined in a large sample (N = 243) of gay and bisexual African American men. Results i ndicate high rates of depression relative to recent population estimates, r egardless of methodology, but that the use of standard cut-scores for self- report inventories may significantly overestimate psychiatric morbidity. Li mited independent effects of serostatus or depression on NP test performanc e were observed. More importantly, a complex set of adverse effects of depr ession and its interaction with serostatus which varied according to the me thodology used to assess depression were observed. These findings are discu ssed in light of ongoing controversy regarding the relative influence of de pression on neuropsychological functioning among people living with HIV/AID S.