The role of depressive personality in determining clinical characteristics of chronic depression

Abstract

Features of depressive personality as defined by Schneider (1958) were associated with high levels of depression severity in a cohort of 87 outpatients with chronic depression. Depressive personality was associated with higher levels of introversion and an earlier age of onset of depressive symptoms. However, as depressive personality did not predict outcome in terms of depression severity over a one year period, an additional diagnosis of depressive personality in patients with chronic depression may not add greatly to a clinical understanding of patients.