Motor and depression inventory score differences and method of clinical diagnosis in adolescents

The ability of self-report depression scales and motor proficiency measures to differentiate among diagnostic categories of depressive illness was examined in 25 clinically depressed adolescents in a hospital setting. The patients were diagnosed as having either an affective disorder involving depression or suffering from a major depressive illness based on three different procedures, each independent of the other: (a) DSM-III criteria, (b) Urinary MHPG excretion, and (c) the Dexamethasone Suppression Test, The Zung, Beck Hamilton depression scales, and the Depression scale of the MHPI, the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Inventory were administered to the patients by trained professionals. Results indicate that (a) patients in the different disease categories according to DSM-III criteria did not score differently on any of the self-report scales while the more severely depressed scored higher on one of the Bruininks motor scale - which is the opposite of what one would expect; (b) patients in the different disease categories according to the urinary MHPG criteria did not score differently on any of the motor measures and self-report data was inconclusive; and (c) self-report depression scales did not discriminate among patient categories defined by the Dexamethasone Suppression Test; however, three of the four motor proficiency batteries were effective discriminators with those suffering biologically linked major depressive episodes scoring less than those in the reactive depression category.