Aspects of aggression in formerly depressed patients and in healthy controls

Thirty former inpatients (14 male and 16 female) who had suffered from a nonpsychotic depressive syndrome were investigated by means of a new personality inventory--the KSP--when they had recovered from the depressive disorder, and their results were contrasted to those obtained from 53 healthy controls (19 male, 34 female). Attention was focused on the subscales of the KSP which refer to aspects of aggression. Former patients scored significantly higher than controls in the variables 'irritability,' 'suspicion,' 'guilt,' and 'inhibition of aggression.' The findings suggest a particular personality makeup for at least one subgroup of depression-prone subjects and closely resemble classical concepts of hostility and depression.