A Theoretical Analysis of Depression from the Perspective of Hegemonic Psychometric Models

Abstract

Depression refers to different typologies of the disorder, presenting several different symptom profiles. These different profiles make up what is known as the “symptom heterogeneity” of depression. In addition, psychometric models on the paradigms of how Major Depressive Disorder is conceived can influence the etiological principles of the phenomenon, as well as being directly related to the basis of procedures for clinical treatment. This article aims to present a reflective theoretical analysis of the various facets of the depression phenomenon from the point of view of its heterogeneity, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention, exposing its main psychometric models: formative, reflexive and networks. The formative model is the one that assumes that depression is not the cause of symptoms, but simply their co-occurrence. The reflective model assumes that there is an internal process that can be called depression that leads to the symptomatology of the disorder. The network model proposes that what is called depression is an emergent property of mutualistic and dynamic relationships between symptoms. Finally, this article also addresses the relationship between paradigmatic views and their relationship with the clinical aspects of the psychologist's practice.