Response set and observer set in the assessment of depressed patients

Abstract

Synopsis Depressed patients were rated at a psychiatric interview and completed a self-report symptom inventory. Concordance between the two measures was modest. Patients with psychotic depression and those with obsessional personalities were found to rate themselves low on self-report relative to interview assessments. Younger patients, and those showing neuroticism, hysterical, and oral dependent personalities rated themselves as more severely ill than did the clinician. These systematic discrepancies appeared to reflect a self-report response set to exaggerate or minimize psychiatric symptoms together with rater set regarding certain types of patients.