The Nature of the Depressive Experience in Analogue and Clinically Depressed Samples

This study directly compared 101 adult outpatients with major depressive disorder to 175 analogue depressed university students on self-report severity ratings. The results seem to indicate that for many individuals in the analogue sample, the nature of the depressive experience is not one of “mild & transient distress” as suggested by Coyne (1994). Approximately 25% of the students reported suicidal ideation, although few individuals reported actual attempts.