Abstract
We studied the use of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) to differentiate between specific anxiety and depressive disorders and/or their symptoms in 280 patients with 6 DSM-III-R diagnoses: major depression (MD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social phobia (SP), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and mixed anxiety and depression (MAD). Using a comparison group, we found specific patterns for some of the diagnostic categories. Both the MD and MAD subjects had significantly high paranoid ideation, interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and psychoticism, as well as high depression subscale scores; those with PD and GAD has the highest anxiety and somatization scores; and those with SP or OCD had a mixed pattern. When ranking the severity of psychopathology, the disorders ordered from most to least were MAD, MD, PD, GAD, SP, and OCD. Subsyndromal levels of symptoms frequently were associated with the various conditions. Use of the SCL-90 subscale helps to enlarge our understanding of the various anxiety and depressive disorders.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Derogatis LR: SCL-90-R: Symptom Checklist-90-R. Minneapolis,MN, National Computer Systems Inc, 1994.
Buller R, Maier W, Benkert O: Clinical subtypes of panic disorder: Their descriptive and prospective validity. Journal of Affective Disorders 11:105–114, 1986.
Vollrath M, Koch R, Angst J: The Zurich Study, IX: Panic disorder and sporadic panic: Symptoms, diagnoses, prevalence and overlap with depression. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 239:221–230, 1990.
Noyes R Jr, Christiansen J, Clancy J, Garvey MJ, Svelzer M, Anderson DJ: Predictors of serious suicide attempts among patients with panic disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry 32:261–267, 1991.
Noyes RJ, Woodman C, Garvey M, Cook BL, Suelzer M, Clancy J, Anderson DJ: Generalized anxiety disorder vs panic disorder. J Nerv Ment Dis 180:369–379, 1992.
van Lear MW, Volkerts EB, van Willingenburg AP: Therapeutic effects and effects on actual driving performance of chemically administered buspirone and diazepam in anxious outpatients. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 12:86–95, 1992.
Cameron OG, Thyer BA, Nesse RM, Curtis GC: Symptom profiles of patients with DSM-III anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 143: 1132–1137, 1986.
Turner SM, Jacob RG, Beidel DC, Himmelhoch J: Fluoxetine treatment of obsessivecompulsive disorder. J Clin Psychopharmacol 5:207–212, 1985.
Agosti V, Stewart J, Quitkin FM, Ocepek-Welikson K: How symptomatic do depressed patients remain after benefiting from medication treatment? Comprehensive Psychiatry 34:182–186, 1993.
Hamilton MA: A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 23:56–62, 1960.
Hamilton MA: Depression and anxiety: A clinical viewpoint. Psychiatry 1:1–6, 1983.
Hamilton M: The assessment of anxiety states by rating. British Journal of Medical Psychology. 32:50–55, 1959.
Montgomery-Asberg SA, Asberg M: A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. British Journal of Psychiatry 134:382–389, 1979.
Davidson R Jr, Potts NL, Richichi EA, Ford SM, Krishnan NL, Smith R, Wilson W: The Brief Social Phobia Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 52:48–51, 1991.
Murphy DL, Pickar D, Alterman IS: Methods for the quantitative assessment of depressive and manic behavior, in The Behavior of Psychiatric Patients. Edited by Burdock EL, Svdilousky A, Greshon S. New York, NY, Marcel Dekker Inc, 1982, pp. 355–392.
Goodman WK, Price LH, Rasmussen SA, Mazur C, Fleishmann RL, Hill CI, Heninger GR, Charney DS: The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), part I: Development, use and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry 4: 1006–1011, 1989.
Raskin A, Schulterbrandt JG, Reatig N, McKeon JJ: Differential response to chlorpromazine, imipramine, and placebo. Archives of General Psychiatry 23:164–173, 1970.
Lipman R, Covi L: Outpatient treatment of neurotic depression: Medication and group psychotherapy, in Evaluation of the Psychological Therapies. Edited by Spitzer RL, Klein DL. Baltimore, MD, John Hopkins University Press, 1976.
Dinardo PA, Barlow DH: Syndrome and symptoms co-occurrence in the anxiety disorders, in Comorbidity. Edited by Maser JD, Cloninger CR.Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press Inc, 1990, p. 215.
Black DW, Noyes R: Comorbidity and obsessive-compulsive disorder, in Comorbidity. Edited by Moser JD, Cloninger CR.Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Press Inc, 1990, p. 305.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kennedy, B.L., Morris, R.L., Pedley, L.L. et al. The Ability of the Symptom Checklist SCL-90 to Differentiate Various Anxiety and Depressive Disorders. Psychiatr Q 72, 277–288 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010357216925
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010357216925