The motor agitation and retardation scale: a scale for the assessment of motor abnormalities in depressed patients.

Increasing recognition of the neurologic aspects of depressive disorder has aroused new interest in the potential neuropathologic significance of "psychomotor" symptoms in depression. Psychomotor symptoms have yet to be clearly defined, however. The Motor Agitation and Retardation Scale (MARS) was developed to provide a comprehensive and nonredundant measure of the motor abnormalities associated with agitation and retardation in depression. Forty-one depressed in patients and 20 normal control subjects were assessed. In this sample, the MARS provided a reliable and valid scale for the clinical assessment of 19 abnormal motor behaviors associated with agitation and retardation in depression. The MARS may be useful for investigation of the pathophysiologic significance of various manifestations of motor abnormalities in depression and, as part of a larger battery, for the investigation of the relative contribution of motor abnormalities to psychomotor impairment in depression.