What is the nonverbal communication of depression? Assessing expressive differences between depressive patients and healthy volunteers during clinical interviews

Author(s)

Fiquer, Juliana Teixeira ^[1] ; Moreno, Ricardo Alberto ^[2] ; Brunoni, Andre R. ^{[3, 4, 5]} ; Barros, Vivian Boschesi ^[6] ; Fernandes, Fernando ^[2] ; Gorenstein, Clarice ^{[7, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Med Sch, Dept & Inst Psychiat, Lab Med Invest LIM 23, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Med Sch, Dept & Inst Psychiat, Mood Disorders Unit GRUDA, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Ludwig Maximilians Univ Munchen, Dept Psychiat & Psychotherapy, Munich - Germany

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Serv Interdisciplinary Neuromodulat, Med Sch, Lab Neurosci LIM 27, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Med Sch, Dept & Inst Psychiat, Natl Inst Biomarkers Psychiat INBioN, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Publ Hlth, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[7] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Pharmacol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Journal of Affective Disorders; v. 238, p. 636-644, OCT 1 2018.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Background: It is unclear if individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) present different nonverbal behavior (NVB) compared with healthy individuals, and also if depression treatments affect NVB. In this study, we compared the NVB of MDD subjects and healthy controls. We also verified how MDD subjects' NVB is affected by depression severity and acute treatments. Methods: We evaluated 100 MDD outpatients and 83 controls. We used a 21-category ethogram to assess the frequency of positive and negative NVB at baseline. MDD subjects were also assessed after eight weeks of treatment (pharmacotherapy or neuromodulation). We used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test to compare the NVB of MDD subjects and controls; beta regression models to verify associations between MDD severity and NVB; the Shapiro-Wilk test to verify changes in NVB after treatment; and logistic regression models to verify NVB associated with treatment response according to the Hamilton depression rating scale. Results: Compared with controls, MDD subjects presented higher levels of six negative NVB (shrug, head and lips down, adaptive hand gestures, frown and cry) and lower levels of two positive NVB (eye contact and smile). MDD subjects' NVB was not associated with depression severity, and did not significantly change after depression treatment. Treatment responders showed more interpersonal proximity at baseline than non-responders. Limitations: Our ethogram had no measure of behavior duration, and we had a short follow-up period. Conclusions: MDD subjects have more negative and less positive social NVB than controls. Their nonverbal behavior remained stable after clinical response to acute depression treatments. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/20911-5 - Escitalopram and transcranial direct current stimulation in major depressive disorder: a double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, non-inferiority trial
• Grantee: Andre Russowsky Brunoni
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• FAPESP's process: 12/50879-6 - Indicators of expressiveness and emotional processing in depression
• Grantee: Clarice Gorenstein
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 11/51732-6 - Non-verbal expressiveness in depression: discrimination between patients and healthy controls, clinical subgroups identification and prognostic and clinical improvement assessments through nonverbal behavioral indicators
• Grantee: Juliana Teixeira Fiquer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral