Date of Award

1-1-1984

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Melancholia or severe depression is a poorly explored phenomenon within mentally retarded populations. Traditional self-report measures of depression are of limited utility for most mentally retarded individuals. Data from a biological test for depression, the dexamethasone suppression test (DST), in conjunction with data from behavioral rating scales, may provide a more reliable means of delineating the nature of severe depression in mentally retarded individuals.Seven hundred and sixteen of the 810 residents of a large institution for mentally retarded individuals were rated by attendants for various characteristics of severe depression. On the basis of these ratings and the absence of other exclusionary criteria, 26 residents obtaining high scores on the rating scale (depressed group) and 31 residents obtaining scores of zero on the rating scale (nondepressed group) were selected for inclusion in the study. These 57 residents were administered the DST and the Behavior Development Survey (BDS), which assesses the degree of various adaptive and maladaptive behaviors demonstrated by a mentally retarded individual. Those residents demonstrating a positive result on the initial DST were readministered the BDS and DST 22 weeks later to determine the consistency of results.Results indicated that severe depression does appear to occur in mentally retarded individuals. The proportion of residents in the depressed group demonstrating positive results on the DST was similar to that found for other psychiatric populations. An examination of the relationships between the DST and BDS indicated that residents in the depressed group who demonstrated positive results on the DST also tended to display more intropunitive behaviors than residents in the nondepressed group and residents in the depressed group who failed to demonstrate a positive result on the DST. Residents in the depressed and nondepressed groups who demonstrated positive DST results continued to do so at follow-up, with residents in the depressed group consistently demonstrating more intropunitive behaviors than those in the nondepressed group. Further research to delineate the behavioral characteristics of those individuals demonstrating false positive and negative DST results appears necessary.

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