Is post-stroke depression phenomenologically different in people who have not experienced a previous episode of depression? : a pilot study

• Main Author: Morris, Charlotte Louisa
• Other Authors: Salkovskis, Paul ; Lomax, Claire
• Published: University of Bath 2014
• Subjects: 616.89
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.675687

Post-stroke depression (PSD) is highly prevalent and influences recovery from stroke. Psychological intervention is a recommended treatment, but the limited understanding of psychological mechanisms underlying PSD means that current guidelines do not recommend specific psychological therapies. Oddly, previous research exploring this area has excluded people with a history of depression. The present study compared PSD in people with (n=9), and without (n=11) a history of depression to determine whether there were differences in PSD phenomenology, in terms of depression profile, lesion location, anxiety and interpretation of performance. PSD appeared to be less prevalent in this study's population than indicated in the literature, leading to the small sample size. Participants with a history of depression were significantly younger and reported more severe depression and poorer quality of life than those for whom this was their first episode of depression. In terms of depression profile, scores on most measures were not found to be different, nor were there significant differences in lesion location between groups. Participants without a history of depression performed worse on the Brixton cognitive task, and in this group, higher health anxiety scores were associated with poorer self-evaluation of performance. As the present study was underpowered, further research with a larger sample is required to explore this more comprehensively, including the addition of qualitative methodology.