Depression Among Alcoholics

The relationships of cognition, health status, and age to depression among alcoholics were studied. Eighty male alcoholics in an alcohol treatment unit were rated on health status and given a battery of psychological tests and scales. These included the Hooper VOT (cognition) and several self-rated depression indices: MMPI-Depression, MCMI-Dysthymic, BDI-Total (BDI-Somatic and BDI-Psychological), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Results showed that depression was present in this sample at mild clinical levels. Regression analyses showed that age was the most influential factor on the MMPI-D and BDI-Somatic. Age also was most influential on the GDS, with health status contributing. However, except for somatic depression, the amount of explained variance was small. Despite this, it is argued that age is a contributing factor to depression among alcoholics, especially the somatic elements of depression.