Table 1.
Methodological differences in the reviewed studies.
| study | sample | cross-sectional vs.longitudinal (follow-up time) | depression measure | how “recurrence” was examined | treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alloy et al., 2006 | 347 college freshmen | Longitudinal (2.5 years) | DSM-III-R diagnosis | single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Alpert et al., 1994 | 116 depressed adult outpatients | Corss-sectional | DSM-III-R diagnosis | Number of episodes | Double-blind pharmacological |
| Barkow et al., 2003 | 725 depressed adults | Longitudinal (1 year) | ICD-10 diagnosis | Depression at time 2 vs. none | None noted |
| Berlanga et al., 1999 | 42 outpatients with a history of depression | Longitudinal (1 year) | DSM-IV diagnosis and HDRS score | a recurrence vs. no recurrence | Double-blind pharmacological |
| Birmaher et al., 2004 | 68 children and adolescents | Longitudinal (5 years) | DSM-III-R and HDRS | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Bland et al., 1986 | 763 first-degree relatives of 75 depressed inpatient probands | Cross-sectional for relatives, longitudinal (12—18 years) for probands | Feighner et al. criteria | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted for relatives, not described for probands |
| Bockting et al., 2005, 2006 | 187 adults with a history of recurrent depression | Longitudinal (2 years) | DSM-IV diagnosis | a recurrence vs. no recurrence | Treatment as usual vs. group CBT |
| Bos et al., 2005 | 102 outpatients with a history of depression | Cross-sectional | DSM-IV diagnosis | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Caspi et al., 2003 | 1037 young adults | Longitudinal (23 years total) | DSM-IV diagnosis | Depression at follow-up | None noted |
| Coryell et al., 1991 | 396 adults | Longitudinal (6 years) | RDC diagnosis | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Deister & Marneros, 1993 | 106 adults with an affective disorder | Longitudinal (10 to 56 years) | DSM-III or DSM-III-R | Multiple recurrences or not | Not described |
| Duggan et al., 1995 | 79 first-degree relatives of inpatients with MDD | Cross-sectional | RDC diagnosis | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Fombonne et al., 2001a, 2001b | 149 inpatient children | Longitudinal (20 years) | ICD-9 | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Not described |
| Giles et al., 1989 | 30 adults with a history of depression | Longitudinal (3 years) | RDC diagnosis and HDRS | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Antidepressants or CBT |
| Gilman et al., 2003 | 1089 adults | Cross-sectional | DSM-III or DSM-IV | number of episodes predicting outcome | None noted |
| Gonzalez et al., 1985 | 113 outpatients with a history of depression | Longitudinal (1 to 3 years) | RDC diagnosis | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Group or individual CBT |
| Hammen, 1991 | 14 depressed women | Longitudinal (1 year) | DSM-III-R | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Hammen, 2003 | 816 women | Cross-sectional | DSM-IV | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Harkness et al., 1999 | 59 depressed outpatients | Cross-sectional | RDC diagnosis, BDI and HDRS | Single-episode vs. recurrent | Individual CBT |
| Iacoviello et al., 2006 | 159 initially non-depressed college freshmen | Longitudinal (2.5 years) | DSM-III-R diagnosis | Predicting number of episodes | None noted |
| Joffe et al., 1999 | 135 depressed adults | Cross-sectional | HDRS | Number of episodes | pharmacological |
| Kaminski & Garber, 2002 | 185 high-risk adolescents | Longitudinal (6 years) | DSM diagnosis | Single-episode vs. recurrence | None noted |
| Kendler et al., 1993 | 1733 female twins | Longitudinal (15 months) | DSM-III-R diagnosis | Both | None noted |
| Kessing 1998, 2004; Kessing et al., 1998, 2000 | 20,350 first-admission patients with an affective disorder | Longitudinal (admissions from 1971 to 1993) | ICD-8 | Number of hospital re-admissions | Not described |
| Kessler et al., 1993 | 8098 adults | Cross-sectional | DSM-III-R | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Kessler & Magee 1993 | 1024 adults with a history of depression | Longitudinal (3 years) | “A” criterion of DSM-III-R | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Klein et al., 1999 | 289 depressed outpatients | Cross-sectional | DSM-III-R and HDRS | Single-episode vs. recurrent | Double-blind pharmacological |
| Kovacs et al., 1984, 2001 | 65-92 depressed children | Longitudinal (6-10 years) | DSM-III | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Lewinsohn et al., 1989 | 2046 adults | Cross—sectional | RDC and CES-D | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Lewinsohn et al., 1988,1994, 1999, 2000 | Up to 1709 adolescents, 362 with a history of depression | Longitudinal (8 months to 10 years) | DSM-III-R or BDI | both | None noted |
| Mitchell et al., 2003 | 270 depressed adults (inpatient or outpatient) | Cross-sectional | DSM-IV | Single-epsidoe vs. recurrent | Not described |
| Mongrain & Blackburn, 2006 | 97 graduate students | Longitudinal (16 months) | DSM-IV diagnosis | a recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Monroe et al., 1996 | 67 adults with recurrent depression | Longitudinal (17 weeks following recovery) | RDC, BDI and HDRS | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Pharmacotherapy and/or IPT |
| Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 1992 | 508 3rd -grade children | Longitudinal (5 years) | CDI | Depression at multiple time points | None noted |
| Oldehinkel et al., 2003 | 26 elderly adults with a history of depression | Longitudinal (2 years) | DSM-IV and HDRS | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| O’Leary & Lee, 1996 | 118 depressed patients treated with ECT | Longitudinal (7 years) | HDRS | Readmission for a recurrence or not | Not described |
| O’Leary et al., 2000 | 100 depressed adult inpatients | Longitudinal (18 months) | ICD-10 or HDRS | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Not described |
| Paykel et al., 1976; Ramana et al., 1995 | 57 adults (inpatient or outpatient) | Longitudinal (15 months following remission) | RDC, DSM-III-R and ICD-10 diagnosis, and HDRS | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Not described |
| Rao et al., 1995 | 28 depressed adolescents | Longitudinal (7 years) | RDC and DSM-III- R diagnoses | a recurrence vs. no recurrence | None noted |
| Rao et al., 1999 | 155 women (age 18 at intake) | Longitudinal (5 years) | DSM-III-R | both | None noted |
| Rohde et al., 1990 | 49 adults | Longitudinal (2 years) | CES-D | One depressive episode | None noted |
| Shea et al., 1996 | 28 adults | Longitudinal (6 years) | RDC diagnosis | One depressive episode | None noted |
| Staner et al., 1997 | 24 adults with a history of depression | Longitudinal (1 year) | RDC diagnosis | A recurrence vs. no recurrence | Antidepressant prophylaxis |
| Simpson et al., 1997 | 195 first-episode depressed adults | Longitudinal (5 years) | RDC diagnosis and HDRS | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Swann et al., 1990 | 85 depressed adults | Cross-sectional | RDC diagnosis | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Wade & Kendler, 2000 | 1898 female twins | Longitudinal (5 years) | DSM-III-R | Depression in the past year | None noted |
| Wainwright and Surtees, 2002 | 3491 adults | Cross-sectional | DSM-IV | Single-epsiode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Wilhelm et al., 1999 | 164 adults | Longitudinal (15 years) | DSM-III and DSM-III-R | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
| Zeiss & Lewinsohn, 1988 | 66 depressed adults | Cross-sectional | MMPI-D | Depression at two time points | psychotherapy |
| Zubenko et al., 2001 | 407 first-degree relatives and 835 extended relatives of 81 probands with recurrent depression | Cross-sectional | DSM-IV | Single-episode vs. recurrent | None noted |
CBT = cognitive behavioral therapy, IPT = interpersonal psychotherapy, DSM = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, HDRS = Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, ICD = International Classification of Diseases, CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, BDI = Beck Depression Inventory, RDC = Research Diagnostic Criteria, ECT = electro-convulsive therapy, CDI = Children’s Depression Inventory, MMPI-D = Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory Depression scale T-scores