@article{ref1,
title="A comparison of melancholic and nonmelancholic recurrent major depression in Han Chinese women",
journal="Depression and anxiety",
year="2011",
author="Sun, Ning and Li, Yihan and Cai, Yiyun and Chen, Jing and Shen, Yuan and Sun, Jing and Zhang, Zheng and Zhang, Jiulong and Wang, Lina and Guo, Liyang and Yang, Lei and Qiang, Li and Yang, Yanchun and Wang, Gang and Du, Bo and Xia, Jing and Rong, Han and Gan, Zhaoyu and Hu, Bin and Pan, Jiyang and Li, Chang and Sun, Shufan and Han, Wei and Xiao, Xue and Dai, Lei and Jin, Guixing and Zhang, Yutang and Sun, Lixin and Chen, Yunchun and Zhao, Haiying and Dang, Yamei and Shi, Shenxun and Kendler, Kenneth S. and Flint, Jonathan and Zhang, Kerang",
volume="29",
number="1",
pages="4-9",
abstract="Background: Although the diagnosis of melancholia has had a long history, the validity of the current DSM-IV definition remains contentious. We report here the first detailed comparison of melancholic and nonmelancholic major depression (MD) in a Chinese population examining in particular whether these two forms of MD differ quantitatively or qualitatively. Methods: DSM-IV criteria for melancholia were applied to 1,970 Han Chinese women with recurrent MD recruited from 53 provincial mental health centers and psychiatric departments of general medical hospitals in 41 cities. Statistical analyses, utilizing Student's t-tests and Pearson's χ(2) , were calculated using SPSS 13.0. Results: Melancholic patients with MD were distinguished from nonmelancholic by being older, having a later age at onset, more episodes of illness and meeting more A criteria. They also had higher levels of neuroticism and rates of lifetime generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social and agoraphobia. They had significantly lower rates of childhood sexual abuse but did not differ on other stressful life events or rates of MD in their families. Discussion: Consistent with most prior findings in European and US populations, we find that melancholia is a more clinically severe syndrome than nonmelancholic depression with higher rates of comorbidity. The evidence that it is a more &quot;biological&quot; or qualitatively distinct syndrome, however, is mixed. Depression and Anxiety 0:1-6, 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1091-4269",
doi="10.1002/da.20875",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/da.20875"
}