First-person pronouns as linguistic markers of depression among Brazilian youths

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Computational Linguistics
• Adolescent Health

Background:

• Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a significant cause of disability in youth.
• Early identification of MDD in adolescents is challenging.
• First-person singular pronoun use is a potential linguistic indicator for MDD, but its validity in non-English speaking youth is uncertain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the use of first-person singular pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking adolescents with and without MDD.
• To examine the relationship between pronoun use and both self-reported and clinician-rated depressive symptoms.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 52 adolescents (13 with MDD, 39 without) from the IDEA-RiSCo cohort.
• Remote data collection was conducted via a WhatsApp chatbot using audio recordings.
• Linguistic analysis of transcripts was performed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) tool.

Main Results:

• Adolescents diagnosed with MDD exhibited significantly higher usage of "I" pronouns compared to their non-MDD peers (9.15% vs. 8.02%).
• A significant positive correlation was found between self-reported depressive symptoms and "I" pronoun usage.
• The correlation between "I" pronoun use and clinician-rated symptoms did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions:

• First-person singular pronoun usage may serve as a linguistic marker for depression in Brazilian adolescents.
• This study provides the first replication of these findings in a young, non-English speaking population using spoken language.
• Integrating linguistic analysis with digital tools shows promise for enhancing early depression detection, particularly in underserved regions.