[Retardation in depressive states : elaboration of a quantitative rating scale (author's transl)]

Important progress has been made in the knowledge of depressive states but there remains great confusion in clinical classification. It seemed interesting to investigate more precisely the semeiology of retardation which had been less studied than Depressed Mood, as it appears to be independent from aetiological factors; retardation could in fact correspond to a common behavioral pattern of all depressive states and the target of antidepressant drugs. A scale for the quantitative rating of retardation was elaborated and was tested in its first two forms which respectively 35 and 38 depressed patients. The principal component analysis of the results seems to indicate that the concept of retardation corresponds to a univocal factor accounting for almost 50% of variance, although it rests on a wide variety of motor, verbal and intellectual items. Is is now sought to study the correlation of this behavioral pattern with the efficacy of antidepressant drugs.