Citation

Kato TA, Katsuki R, Kubo H, Shimokawa N, Sato-Kasai M, Hayakawa K, Kuwano N, Umene-Nakano W, Tateno M, Setoyama D, Kang D, Watabe M, Sakamoto S, Teo AR, Kanba S. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2019; 73(8): 448-457.

Affiliation

Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/pcn.12842

PMID

30900331

Abstract

AIM: Understanding premorbid personality is important especially when considering treatment selection. Historically, the premorbid personality of Japan's depression is Shuchaku-kishitsu, proposed by Shimoda in the 1930s. Since around 2000, young adults with depression who have premorbid personality differing from the traditional type have increasingly been reported in Japan. In 2005, Tarumi termed this novel condition 'Dysthymic-type Depression', and it is recently called 'Shin-gata/Gendai-gata Utsu-byo; Modern-type Depression (MTD)'. We have recently developed a semi-structured diagnostic interview to evaluate MTD. Development of a tool that enables understanding of premorbid personality in a short time especially at the early stage of treatment is desirable. The object is to develop a self-report scale to evaluate the traits of MTD, and assess its psychometric properties, diagnostic accuracy and biological validity.

METHOD: A sample of 340 participants from clinical and community setting completed measures. Psychometric properties were assessed with factor analysis. Diagnostic accuracy of the MTD traits was compared against a semi-structured interview.

RESULTS: The questionnaire contained 22 items across three subscales, thus we termed it the 22-item Tarumi's modern-type depression trait scale; Avoidance of social roles, Complaint and low Self-esteem (TACS-22). Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity were all-satisfactory. Among patients with major depression, AUC was 0.757 (sensitivity of 63.1% and specificity of 82.9%) and the score was positively correlated with plasma tryptophan.

CONCLUSION: TACS-22 possessed adequate psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy in an initial sample of Japanese adults. Additional research on its ability to support clinical assessment of MTD is warranted. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

dysthymic-type depression; hikikomori; major depressive disorder; melancholic-type depression; metabolomics; premorbid personality