Correlates of analogue and clinical depression: a further test of the phenomenological continuity hypothesis

Background: The use of college students with high scores on a depression ra ting scale as analogues for depression by psychological researchers has gen erated controversy. Critics of analogue research argue that depression is q ualitatively different in analogue and clinical samples, Objective: To cond uct a further comparison of the phenomenology of clinical and analogue depr ession to determine if the differences between these groups are best unders tood as quantitative (consistent with the continuity hypothesis) or whether these forms of depression are qualitatively distinct. Method: This study c ompared 161 outpatients with major depressive disorder to 148 'analogue' su bjects (college students with a Beck Depression Inventory score greater tha n or equal to 9) and 141 non-distressed controls. Study measures included s everal proposed personality vulnerability factors for depression, a measure of developmental experiences that may confer vulnerability to adult depres sion, and family history of emotional disorders. Results: Most comparisons of personality vulnerability factors. developmental experiences and family history information followed a pattern of greatest risk in the clinical gro up, intermediate risk in the analogue group and lowest risk in the non-dist ressed group. Noteworthy exceptions included several aspects of perfectioni sm and a number of childhood experiences reflecting parental over-control, which appeared to be more strongly associated with analogue depression than clinical depression. Implications: Several personality and developmental v ariables could represent important areas of discontinuity between clinical and analogue depression, However, the overall results were consistent with a growing body of literature suggesting continuity between subthreshold dep ression symptoms and syndromal depression. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.