To investigate the relation between vocal prosody and change in depression severity over time, 57 participants from a clinical trial for treatment of depression were evaluated at seven-week intervals using a semistructured clinical interview for depression severity (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD)). All participants met criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) at week one. Using both perceptual judgments by naive listeners and quantitative analyses of vocal timing and fundamental frequency, three hypotheses were tested: 1) Naive listeners can perceive the severity of depression from vocal recordings of depressed participants and interviewers. 2) Quantitative features of vocal prosody in depressed participants reveal change in symptom severity over the course of depression. 3) Interpersonal effects occur as well; such that vocal prosody in interviewers shows corresponding effects. These hypotheses were strongly supported. Together, participants' and interviewers' vocal prosody accounted for about 60 percent of variation in depression scores, and detected ordinal range of depression severity (low, mild, and moderate-to-severe) in 69 percent of cases (kappa = 0.53). These findings suggest that analysis of vocal prosody could be a powerful tool to assist in depression screening and monitoring over the course of depressive disorder and recovery.

中文翻译：

---

从声乐韵律检测抑郁症的严重程度

为了研究声乐韵律与抑郁症严重程度随时间变化之间的关系，对抑郁症治疗临床试验的 57 名参与者每隔七周使用抑郁症严重程度的半结构化临床访谈（汉密尔顿抑郁量表 (HRSD)）进行评估. 所有参与者在第一周都符合重度抑郁症 (MDD) 的标准。使用天真的听众的感知判断和对发声时间和基频的定量分析，测试了三个假设：1）天真的听众可以从抑郁的参与者和采访者的声音记录中感知抑郁的严重程度。2) 抑郁参与者声乐韵律的定量特征揭示了抑郁过程中症状严重程度的变化。3) 也会出现人际影响；从而使面试官的声韵呈现出相应的效果。这些假设得到了强有力的支持。参与者和采访者的声音韵律一起占抑郁评分变化的 60%，并在 69% 的案例中检测到抑郁严重程度的顺序范围（低、轻度和中度至重度）（kappa = 0.53）。这些研究结果表明，声乐韵律分析可能是一种强大的工具，可在抑郁症和康复过程中协助进行抑郁症筛查和监测。和中度至重度）在 69% 的病例中（kappa = 0.53）。这些研究结果表明，声乐韵律分析可能是一种强大的工具，可在抑郁症和康复过程中协助进行抑郁症筛查和监测。和中度至重度）在 69% 的病例中（kappa = 0.53）。这些研究结果表明，声乐韵律分析可能是一种强大的工具，可在抑郁症和康复过程中协助进行抑郁症筛查和监测。