Norms for depressed patients for the California verbal learning test: associations with depression severity and self-report of cognitive difficulties.

This study provides norms for depressed subjects for a widely used test of verbal memory, the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). Subjects were 156 outpatients with major depression tested during a drug washout period. Mean CVLT memory scores for these patients were generally between one-half and one standard deviation below age- and sex-corrected norms for nondepressed populations. Severity of depression in the patients was not associated with memory performance, but was associated with self-report of cognitive difficulties. A table of age-, sex-, and education-specific norms for the CVLT is provided.