Citation

Seemüller F, Riedel M, Obermeier M, Schennach-Wolff R, Spellmann I, Meyer S, Bauer M, Adli M, Kronmüller K, Ising M, Brieger P, Laux G, Bender W, Heuser I, Zeiler J, Gaebel W, Möller HJ. Eur. Psychiatry 2012; 27(7): 547-552.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Nussbaumstrasse 7, 80336 Munich, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2011.01.004

PMID

21392943

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Self-ratings of psychotic experiences might be biased by depressive symptoms. METHOD: Data from a large naturalistic multicentre trial on depressed inpatients (n=488) who were assessed on a biweekly basis until discharge were analyzed. Self-rated psychotic symptoms as assessed with the 90-Item Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) were correlated with the SCL-90 total score, the SCL-90 depression score, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 21 item (HAMD-21) total score, the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score and the clinician-rated paranoid-hallucinatory score of the Association for Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry (AMDP) scale. RESULTS: At discharge the SCL-90 psychosis score correlated highest with the SCL-90 depression score (0.78, P<0.001) and with the BDI total score (0.64, P<0.001). Moderate correlations were found for the MADRS (0.34, P<0.001), HAMD (0.37, P<0.001) and AMDP depression score (0.33, P<0.001). Only a weak correlation was found between the SCL-90 psychosis score and the AMDP paranoid-hallucinatory syndrome score (0.15, P<0.001). Linear regression showed that change in self-rated psychotic symptoms over the treatment course was best explained by a change in the SCL-90 depression score (P<0.001). The change in clinician-rated AMDP paranoid-hallucinatory score had lesser influence (P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In depressed patients self-rated psychotic symptoms correlate poorly with clinician-rated psychotic symptoms. Caution is warranted when interpreting results from epidemiological surveys using self-rated psychotic symptom questionnaires as indicators of psychotic symptoms. Depressive symptoms which are highly prevalent in the general population might influence such self-ratings.

Language: en