Conceptualization and preliminary validation of a depressive personality concept

Abstract

This paper proposes a depressive personality organization—a unique set of traits. It proposes a psychodynamic and psychiatric operationalization and reports on a preliminary validation through the construction of a questionnaire and the investigation of its psychometric properties in three nonclinical samples and a clinical sample of depressed patients. Preliminary results support the validity of the instrument and the underlying theoretical conceptualization of a depressive personality.