Social adjustment in depression: the impact of depression severity, personality, and clinic versus community sampling

Abstract 

Background: Impaired social adjustment in depression has been associated with clinical variables, although results have been inconsistent. Previous research has not examined how social adjustment in depression varies by source of sample (clinical vs. community) or the associations with personality. Methods: A total of 260 depressed outpatients from two samples completed the Social Adjustment Scale and were assessed on a number of clinical variables including depression severity, age, duration of depression, and personality symptoms. Results: Overall social adjustment scores in our clinical samples were similar to those of an overseas clinical sample although there were some differences by subscales. In addition, the social adjustment scores of our clinical sample were significantly more impaired than those of individuals identified as depressed from a local epidemiological sample. Finally, in multiple regression equations, social adjustment scores were predicted by the clinical variables, severity of depression, younger age and personality symptoms. However, these only explained a small amount of variance in scores. Conclusion: Social adjustment in depression does not vary across different countries but varies according to the sample source (clinic vs. community). Some clinical variables are emerging as consistently associated with impaired social adjustment in depression. The associations with personality suggest this must be considered when assessing social adjustment in depressed patients.

Keywords:  Depression, Social adjustment, Personality