TITLE:
Developing a Scale for the New-Type Depression: Focusing on the Differences between Working Hours and Free Time
AUTHORS:
Shinji Sakamoto, Miho Nakajima, Itsuki Yamakawa, Masaki Muranaka, Takanobu Matsuura
KEYWORDS:
Distress, Occupational Stress, White Collar Workers, Measurement, Occupational Health Psychology
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
15,
2021
ABSTRACT: The new-type depression, in which depressive symptoms worsen during working hours and alleviate in free time, has been reported in Japan (especially among office workers) and other countries. The new-type depression, symptoms of which are different from those of the melancholic type, is difficult to cure using pharmacotherapy. The present study aims to develop the Distress Scale for On and Off Duty (DSOOD) to measure distress during working hours and free time separately. The new-type depression is often comorbid with anxiety and hypomania. Therefore, self-rating scales of depression, anxiety, hypomania, and a positive mental state were referred to while developing the DSOOD. The present study was conducted using the Internet. A total of 400 full-time non-managerial employees (200 male and 200 female) answered three questionnaires: DSOOD (37 items), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The factor analysis indicated two factors of the DSOOD: “distress” (20 items) and “good condition” (12 items). The concurrent validity of DSOOD was high because 1) the distress scores of working hours and free time were highly correlated with PHQ-9 and GAD-7 and 2) the DSOOD distinguishably measured distress in working hours and free time, which was reflected in the answers to additional questions in the PHQ-9 and GAD-7.