Longitudinal follow-up of unipolar depressives: An investigation of predictors of relapse.

Conducted longitudinal interval follow-up evaluations, using the method described by R. Shapiro and M. Keller (unpublished), with 113 19–60 yr old unipolar depressives who had completed a cognitive-behavioral intervention in an examination of 1- to 3-yr outcomes and risk factors for relapse. Ss were administered the Beck Depression Inventory, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, and a life satisfaction scale. 59, 28, and 26 Ss were assigned to major depressive, intermittent depressive, and double depressive categories, respectively, according to pretreatment symptomatology and the Research Diagnostic Criteria. Results indicate that the recovery rate of the major depressives (75%) was significantly higher than that of the intermittent depressives (43%) or that of the superimposed depressives (27%). Significant predictors of relapse, accounting for 38% of the variance, included the number of previous episodes of depression, family history, poor health, history of depression in 1st-degree relatives, dissatisfaction with major life roles, depression level at entry to the study, and age. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)