Primary versus secondary depression. A psychometric approach. Preliminary results

Differences between primary and secondary depression have been studied from different viewpoints. This study aimed at determining a possible difference in terms of personality factors and psychodynamic variables. Two psychological tests (the MMPI and the Gottschalk-Gleser) were administered to 32 depressed inpatients, diagnosed according to Feighner criteria. A statistically significant difference was found only for the Psychasthenia scale on the MMPI. However a discriminant analysis using the MMPI results yielded approximately 80% correct classification. The Gottschalk-Gleser test did not provide any significant difference.