[Young adult groups' response to a depressive prototype narrative in Bucaramanga, Colombia]

The present study was aimed at establishing how a group of depressed young adults (diagnosed depressive by DSM-IV) identified with a depressive prototype narrative compared to a non-depressed equivalent group.

The sample had 100 participants in each group. Ages ranged from 18 to 47 (male and female), the subjects coming from socioeconomic groups two to four, irrespective of civil status but having reading and writing skills. No random method was used for choosing the participants who came form mental health centres in Bucaramanga. The survey used a cross-co-relational design; the procedure involved applying an SCID-I structured interview, Hamilton's Depression Scale and Maia's depressive prototype narrative. Data was processed using SPSS software (version 12.0).

A Ji-square test was applied to confirm the hypothesis concerning depressive an d non-depressive participants identifying with a depressive prototype narrative. It gave 119.4 (with p<0.05 and 2 Gl), this being higher than expected. A Gamma test was also done d=-0.89, revealing a considerable inverse correlation and thereby indicating subjects' differences in identifying with the narrative in each group.

Depressed subjects identified with a depressive prototype narrative in all groups, meaning that their emotional experience of depression was built on a discursive prototypical organisation regarding structure, content and process.