Measurement of hostility, anger, and depression in depressed and nondepressed subjects

This study examined the relationship between hostility and depression in depressed and nondepressed subjects as well as the reliability and validity of several measures of anger, hostility and depression. Sixty-nine subjects were evaluated for depression using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD; Hamilton, 1960). These subjects were then administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Ergaugh, 1961), Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (BDHI; Buss & Durkee, 1957), Hostility and Direction of Hostility Questionnaire (HDHQ; Foulds, Caine, & Creasy, 1960) and the State-Trait Anger Scale (STAS; Spielberger, Jacobs, Russell, & Crane, 1983). Results showed the BDI, STAS-TRAIT, HDHQ, and BDHI to have good temporal stability. Support was found for the convergent validity of all measures of depression, hostility, and anger. Limited discriminant validity was found between measures of anger and hostility and measures of depression. This latter finding was interpreted as lending support for the relationship between hostility and depression rather than as an indication of limited construct validity for the measures. Intercorrelations among hostility, anger, and depression scales offer some support for the hypothesis that depression is linked most strongly with attitudinal versus motoric forms of hostility. However, normative data suggests that both forms of hostility increase with severity of depression. Clinical implications and directions for further research are discussed.