Self-reported life satisfaction and recovery from depression in a 1-year prospective study

Objective: To study the relationship of a self-rated four-item life satisfaction scale (LS) to the self-rated 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) and to study LS changes during recovery from depression. Method: A 1-year prospective study on 188 depressive patients receiving standard psychiatric outpatient treatment; 137 of the patients had major depression. Results: LS correlated strongly with BDI and HAMD. It explained 46.6% of the variation in BDI at baseline and 66.2% at 12 months. LS improved substantially during recovery. The main recovery occurred during the first 6 months, the change in the LS score explaining 46.5% of the change in the BDI score (P<0.001). Conclusion: Life satisfaction is strongly affected in depression, but it improves concurrently with recovery from depression. LS scale may prove useful in screening for those whose subjective wellbeing deserves attention and in assessing alleviation from depression.