The relationship of depression to social skills and intellectual functioning in mentally retarded adults

Ninety-nine mild to severely mentally retarded adults were evaluated on a variety of measures. The battery included the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT), the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults, the Social Performance Survey Schedule, Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression, the Beck Depression Inventory and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Depression and social skills measures correlated significantly with each other on self-report and informant reports. Receptive vocabulary did not significantly correlate with depression or social skills measures, irrespective of self or other report format. Additionally, demographic variables such as intellectual level were not significant. The PPVT mean scores differed significantly by level of mental retardation as might be expected. The significance of these data and their implication for further study are reviewed.