Differences between two questionnaires for assessment of typus melancholicus, Zerssen's F-list and Kasahara's scale: the validity and relationship to DSM-III-R personality disorders.

We examined the validity in various settings of two questionnaires for assessment of Typus melancholicus, F-list and Kasahara's scale, and characterological differences between the questionnaires, based on data in 69 patients with unipolar depression and 386 normal controls without a history of depression. The questionnaires were performed on both groups. In addition, a diagnosis of DSM-III-R personality disorders was done for the patient group. Our results demonstrated that Kasahara's scale has much more stable validity in various settings for distinction between personalities of the two groups, and that high scorers in Kasahara's scale have more obsessionality and less personality instability than those in F-list. Such differences between the questionnaires suggested that a direct international comparison of premorbid personality of unipolar depressive patients is needed.