Nonverbal cues for depression.

Sixty-seven psychology faculty, graduates and undergraduates, were presented a silent videotape film of 5 depressed and 5 nondepressed psychiatric patients and were asked to identify which patients appeared depressed on the basis of nonverbal cues alone. Ratings of frequency and duration of eye contact were made by 2 raters independent of the investigator. Results showed depressed patients maintained eye contact for only about one-fourth the time that nondepressed patients did. In addition to the identification of eye conact as a nonverbal cue in depression, the mouth and angle of neck were also identified as salient nonverbal cues. Discussion focused on the value of nonverbal cues as a source of diagnostic information.