Depression and anxiety have distinct and overlapping language patterns: Results from a clinical interview.

ABSTRACT: Depression has been associated with heightened first-person singular pronoun use (I-usage; e.g., "I," "my") and negative emotion words. However, past research has relied on nonclinical samples and nonspecific depression measures, raising the question of whether these features are unique to depression vis-à-vis frequently co-occurring conditions, especially anxiety. Using structured questions about recent life changes or difficulties, we interviewed a sample of individuals with varying levels of depression and anxiety (N = 486), including individuals in a major depressive episode (n = 228) and/or diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (n = 273). Interviews were transcribed to provide a natural language sample. Analyses isolated language feature

SUBMITTER: Stade EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10799169 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature