Contemporary psychology, Vol. 7 No. 1, 2004.
Original scientific paper
Anxiety and depression: phenomenology of comorbidity
Anita Vulić-Prtorić
Ivana Macuka
Abstract
The paper presents the results of an investigation conducted with the aim of determining the comorbidity phenomenology of anxiety and depression symptoms in childhood and adolescence. The research was conducted on a sample of 857 5th to 8th grade primary school students and 1st to 4th year secondary school students, using two scales with respective differential diagnostic qualities: SDD Children and Adolescents Depression Scale (Vulić-Prtorić, 2003a) and SKAD-62 Fear and Anxiety Scale For Children and Adolescents (Vulić-Prtorić, 2003b).
Anxiety and depression comorbidity was examined on 2 taxonomic levels: symptom level and syndrome level. The results show that anxiety and depression are two separate, clearly recognisable, constructs that represent two components of one higher level factor known in literature as negative affectivity . The obtained results confirm the theoretical hypotheses of two-component comorbidity model of anxiety and depression. According to the tripartite model of comorbidity it is suggested that it is more a conceptual than empirical problem.
Keywords
Anxiety; depression; comorbidity; children; adolescents
Hrčak ID:
3241
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2004.
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