Beyond words: Sensory properties of depressive thoughts

Figures & data

Table 1. Percentage of sensory perceptions as measured with the SPD questionnaire, split for sensory channel (in descending order of prevalence)

Sensory channel	None	Weak	Medium	Strong	Extreme
Bodily	60.4	15.4	13.5	9.3	1.4
Auditory	69.4	14.3	10.7	4.8	0.8
Visual	72.8	13.2	9.3	4.5	0.3
Tactile	86.2	7.6	2.8	3.1	0.3
Olfactory	87.4	6.7	3.4	2.0	0.6
Other	95.2	1.1	1.4	2.2	–

Table 2. Differences between participants who did report sensory properties of depressive thoughts versus those who did not

Variable	No sensory properties (n = 155)	Sensory properties of thoughts (n = 201)	Statistics
Background variables
Age in years	42.97 (11.15)	43.03 (11.02)	t(354) = 0.05, p > .9, d = .01
Gender (male/female)	48/107	58/143	χ^2(1) = 0.19, p > .6
Number of prior depressive episodes  (once/up to 5 times/up to 10 times/up  to 20 times/more than 20 times)	30/72/30/11/12	31/79/46/26/19	χ^2(1) = 3.89, p = .05
Depressive symptoms
HDRS
Psychic depression (items 1, 2, 3,  8, 22, 23, 24)	5.12 (3.25)	5.88 (3.40)	t(304) = 2.00, p = .05, d = .23
Loss of motivated behaviour  (items 7, 12, 14, 16)	2.52 (1.80)	2.78 (1.99)	t(304) = 1.19, p > .2, d = .14
Psychosis/disturbed thinking  (items 17, 19, 20, 21)	0.54 (0.92)	0.76 (1.20)	t(304) = 1.83, p = .07, d = .21
Anxiety (items 9, 10, 11, 15)	3.21 (2.31)	3.66 (2.32)	t(304) = 1.69, p = .09, d = .19
Sleep disturbance (items 4, 5, 6)	2.71 (1.76)	2.72 (1.72)	t(304) = 0.09, p > .9, d = .01
Total score (sum items 1–24)	16.57 (7.45)	18.06 (7.64)	t(304) = 1.71, p = .09, d = .20
QIDS total score	8.71 (4.00)	9.68 (4.07)	t(305) = 2.08, p = .04, d = .24
PHQ-9 total score	10.21 (2.61)	10.54 (2.30)	t(354) = 1.26, p > .2, d = .13
Suicidality
SBQ-R item 4 (likelihood of  future suicide)	0.88 (0.93)	1.08 (1.00)	t(305) = 1.73, p = .08, d = .21
MINI item suicide (ever tried  to commit suicide)	18 (13.2%)	37 (21.6%)	χ^2(1) = 3.72, p = .05
Well-being/quality of life
SF-12 physical health	47.39 (10.15)	47.05 (9.32)	t(341) = 0.32, p > .7, d = .03
SF-12 mental health	31.54 (8.58)	30.05 (7.07)	t(341) = 1.74, p = .08, d = .19