Petty Scharles Cercy, Sachs-Ericsson Natalie, Joiner Thomas E
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA.
J Affect Disord. 2004 Aug;81(2):115-22. doi: 10.1016/S0165-0327(03)00158-7.
Interpersonal skill deficits are associated with depression; however, the nature of the relationship is not clear. This study examined whether interpersonal skill deficits are a temporary symptom of depression or a stable characteristic of depression-prone individuals, in a large adult general population sample (N=4749).
Interpersonal functioning (IF) was compared among never depressed individuals and three groups of individuals with a history of depression: current depressives, recently remitted, and remitted depressives.
State effects of depression were clearly observed and a strong association between IF difficulties and current depression was found. Individuals with an early onset of depression showed some indication of an 'interpersonal scar'; but, in general, we did not find evidence that repeated depression 'scarred' the individual.
The cross-sectional methodology limited our ability to examine whether interpersonal deficits were more the result of a depressive episode or were present beforehand. In addition, it would have been more informative to follow participants over the course of several months in order to examine the relation between depression and interpersonal functioning deficits as it unfolded longitudinally.
Our findings suggest that interpersonal functioning deficits are in some regards a stable feature among people with a history of depression; however, they possess temporary features as well. Depression may scar interpersonal functioning, but only if it occurs early in life.
人际交往技能缺陷与抑郁症有关；然而，这种关系的本质尚不清楚。本研究在一个大型成年普通人群样本（N = 4749）中，考察了人际交往技能缺陷是抑郁症的一种暂时症状，还是易患抑郁症个体的一种稳定特征。
比较了从未患过抑郁症的个体与三组有抑郁症病史的个体（当前抑郁症患者、近期康复者和康复抑郁症患者）之间的人际功能（IF）。
清楚地观察到了抑郁症的状态效应，并且发现人际功能困难与当前抑郁症之间存在强烈关联。抑郁症早发个体显示出一些“人际创伤”的迹象；但是，总体而言，我们没有发现证据表明反复患抑郁症会给个体留下“创伤”。
横断面研究方法限制了我们考察人际缺陷更多是抑郁发作的结果还是事先就存在的能力。此外，如果在几个月的时间里跟踪参与者，以便考察抑郁症与人际功能缺陷随着时间纵向发展的关系，会更具参考价值。
我们的研究结果表明，人际功能缺陷在某些方面是有抑郁症病史人群的一个稳定特征；然而，它们也具有暂时特征。抑郁症可能会给人际功能留下创伤，但前提是它发生在生命早期。
