Sensation-seeking and emotional disturbances in depression: relationships and evolution

The French abbreviated form of the sensation-seeking scale was given to 183 hospitalized depressed subjects meeting the DSM-III-R criteria for major depression. Depressed subjects, men and women, scored significantly lower than controls from the general population, paired as to age and sex, on all of the subscales. There was no relationship to the intensity of depression and anxiety. Relationships between emotional disturbances and sensation-seeking were differentiated according to the specificity of each subscale and to age and sex. There was no significant difference between baseline and after-treatment sensation-seeking scores and subjects at discharge still scored significantly lower than controls. Hypotheses on evolution at a later date after the hospitalization are made. The finding of positive relationships for some subjects between sensation-seeking and anhedonia is interpreted in regard to a compensatory process.