Transdiagnostic symptoms of depression in alcoholism

Abstract

Principal components analyses were performed on the intercorrelations among the 21 items of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and 15 items of NIAAA's alcohol Impairment Index for 101 men admitted for alcoholism treatment at large, metropolitan community mental health center. An inter-battery principal-components analysis performed among the five salient components initially found for the BDI and the four identified for the Impairment Index revealed one significant canonical variate representing affective and somatic symptoms. The symptoms reflecting cognitive distortions in self-concept may afford a better picture of the severity of depression in alcoholics than affective and somatic symptoms.