I that the disclosure of emotions can have positive consequences for individuals-that emotional disclosure is a Good Thing like democracy, mother, and an annual physical. But, although contemporary psychologists may view emotional disclosure as a Good Thing, this has not been the prevailing view in much of Western thought nor even in twentieth century psychology. For example, the psychologists who first studied human intelligence contrasted rational thought with emotional experience (Schaffer, Gilmer,

Major depressive disorder is a highly recurrent illness. The risk of the recurrence of major depressive disorder progressively increases with each successive episode and decreases as the duration of recovery increases.

This study examines the psychometric properties of two new abbreviated versions of standard measures of depression, a revised eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies--Depression Scale (CES-D) and a short-form Composite International Diagnostic Interview (short-form CIDI). A sample of 6,133 elders, age 70 years or older, completed both measures as part of the Asset and Health Dynamics Study of the Oldest Old. The revised CES-D had an internal consistency and factor structure comparable to that of prior versions of the CES-D. The sources of discordance between the two measures were examined and the two measures were compared on self-report of four clinical variables: medical illness, physician diagnosis, psychiatric treatment, and antidepressant or tranquilizer use. Both measures were associated with self-report of physician diagnosis and psychiatric treatment. Respondents positive for depression on the CES-D reported higher rates of antidepressant use. Respondents positive on the short-form CIDI only did not report more antidepressant use than nondepressed respondents.

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