Prosen M, Clark D C, Harrow M, Fawcett J
Am J Psychiatry. 1983 Jul;140(7):839-44. doi: 10.1176/ajp.140.7.839.
The authors propose definitions of guilt as a self-critical feeling state and of conscience as a set of standards, to permit independent assessment of their prevalence in a sample of 93 depressed, 29 schizophrenic, and 43 normal subjects. Patients with feelings of guilt tended to have a more severe conscience and lower self-esteem. While guilt is prominent in a moderate percentage of depressed patients, negative self-esteem may form one of the cornerstones for depressed patients of all types. The authors propose that the operational definition of psychoanalytic concepts such as guilt and conscience permits a valid and more rigorous test of clinical generalizations.
作者提出将内疚定义为一种自我批判的情感状态，将良心定义为一套标准，以便能够独立评估它们在93名抑郁症患者、29名精神分裂症患者和43名正常受试者样本中的普遍程度。有内疚感的患者往往有更严苛的良心和更低的自尊。虽然内疚在一定比例的抑郁症患者中很突出，但消极自尊可能是所有类型抑郁症患者的基石之一。作者提出，诸如内疚和良心等精神分析概念的操作性定义能够对临床概括进行有效且更严格的检验。
