Social functioning in community residents with depression and other psychiatric disorders: results of the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study.

Social functioning was compared among 4913 community participants with current depression, past depression, other psychiatric disorders and no psychiatric history, from the New Haven Epidemiologic Catchment Area Wave I survey. Respondents with current major depressive disorder (1.5%) (based on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule) reported significantly poorer intimate relationships and less satisfying social interactions than respondents with past depression or other current disorders. Respondents with no psychiatric history (77%) reported significantly more active and satisfying social interactions than persons with any psychiatric disorder. These social functioning and depression associations were similar among males and females, and corroborated results from patient samples.