No abstract

Background and Aims HistoryThis program began 15 years ago when Markman, working along with John Gottman and Clifford Notarius at Indiana University, began investigating the causes of marital distress. The initial studies indicated that the quality of couples' communication clearly discriminated between distressed and nondistressed couples. In particular, distressed couples showed a tendency to escalate negatively during discussions of marital issues, whereas nondistressed couples were able to exit the beginning stages of negative interaction cycles (e.g., Gottman, Markman, & Notarius, 1977). On the basis of these early studies the group developed a treatment program for couples, summarized in A Couple's Guide to Communication (Gottman, Notarius, Gonzo, & Markman, 1976).At the same time, Markman began a series of longitudinal studies to test the hypothesis that the communication variables that discriminatedThe research reported in this chapter is supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R02-MH35525.

This study: (a) compared 40 Ss with cerebral damage with 40 matched nondamaged Ss on 4 commonly used psychometric instruments, as well as W-B Vocabulary and MMPI L Scale; and (b) investigated the relationship between these tests and 4 dimensions (laterality, severity, progressiveness, and diffuseness). Using artificial base rates, the rank order for "accuracy" was:

Only three different HRS items are found in these correlations; suicide and somatic anxiety are responsible for 8 of the 9. In contrast, 6 separate BDI items entered into the 9 correlations. Thus, the suicide and somatic anxiety items in the HRS are reflected by more items in the BDI. The low self-esteem complex (self punitive wishes, guilt, and punishment) on the BDI matches suicide on the HRS.Patients were ranked on four indices for evaluating depression (the medical staff's diagnoses, reviews of the complete hospital records rated by three psychiatrists, the BDI, the HRS). Using the sum of these four ranks, we defined 31 (20%) of the 153 patients as "depressed". Of these 31 depressed patients, 48% had BDI scores higher than Beck's Cutting Score of 13, while 60% of them had HRS scores higher than an arbitrary cutting score of 43. On the other hand, 52% of the patients with high BDI scores and 40% of the patients with high HRS scores were in the nondepressed 122 medical patients. SUMMARY Two rating scales, the BDI and the HRS, were used for evaluating depression with 153 medical inpatients. Total scores showed a high correlation (T. = .75). Although there is considerable overlap, the individual items in these two scales are not identical. The HRS is weighted toward the somatic symptomatology of depression, while the BDI has several categories referable to pessimism, failure, and self-punitive wishes. The item means, their correlations with total BDI and HRS scores, and 357 item-item comparisons were computed. The suicide item on the HRS correlated with five items on the BDI. Both scales have value for assessing depression in medical inpatients. They do not duplicate each other due to differences in methodology, and measure somewhat different components of the depressive complex.