Familial subtypes of depression: a longitudinal perspective

An 11-year follow-up of depressed women systematically interviewed and classified by familial subtypes during hospitalization tended to confirm findings of a gradation in severity of illness with depressive spectrum disease being a milder form. Depressive spectrum subjects had shorter subsequent episodes of depression than the other depressives and were less likely to require hospitalization for depression. Depressive spectrum subjects were at greater risk than the others for the development of alcoholism and they experienced more social maladjustment, which suggests implications for treatment strategies and future research.