IF YOU were susceptible to clinical depression, would you want to know about it ahead of time? Most of us probably would. Now Dr. Susan Williams, a psychologist at Hamilton Health Science Corporation's Child and Family Centre and PhD graduate from York University, has helped develop a mood sensitivity test that may be able to determine if a person is at high risk for major depression.

Williams and a group of colleagues conducted a study at the Toronto-based Addictions Research Foundation, where participants were subjected to melancholy music, followed by a questionnaire that measures negative thinking. "We were able to predict who would be depressed three-to-five years later," explains Williams, who adds that the seven-and-a-half-minute long test was 70 per cent accurate in forecasting who would become depressed. "The ones who were more likely to spiral into negative thinking were also more likely to have an episode of depression."

Currently, Williams is using the paradigm on children as young as eight, although her new version of the test takes only two-and-a-half minutes and involves kids choosing between both negative words like "ugly" and "stupid," and positive words like "nice" and "intelligent".

Some of the children also have depressed parents. "I'm looking at how these kids and their parents interact," says McLeod. "We know that parents in these families can be hostile or critical, so the children develop a negative image of themselves. And the parents aren't available to give support, because they're caught up in their own situation."

While she maintains it would be unethical to share the results with patients, Williams believes the test is effective in helping psychologists design prevention programs, which can teach coping strategies. "In the long-term, maybe it could be used in doctors' offices."

Illustration: Ryan Price

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