THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JUDGMENT STYLES AMONG DEPRESSIVE AND NON-DEPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS: A VALIDATION STUDY OF INSTRUMENTS IN PAKISTAN Abstract The current research was undertaken to investigate the relationship between judgment styles among depressive and non-depressive individuals. The sample of the present study was collected from random sampling of the university students. The sample size for the study was consisted of N=100 (N=50; depressive and N=50; non anxious) individuals. The age range of the sample consisted from 18 years or above. Siddiqui Shah Depression Scale (SSDS) and General Judgmental styles Style Questionnaire (DMSQ) was used for the purpose of data collection. The result was conducted through using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Different statistical analysis was used to determine the difference between depressive and non-depressive individuals. The results of the study indicated that there is a significant difference between the views of depressive and non-depressive individuals while making decisions in daily routine or in simple actions. The depressive individuals are more likely to be avoidant and dependent as compare to others. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of cognitive patterns in depression and represents the importance of culturally sensitive instruments for psychological assessments. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 25 (10) December, 2024; 1-5.

Introduction: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are commonly prescribed to psychiatric patients. However, there have been few studies evaluating BZD refusal among patients with psychiatric disorders during the dispensing process. Thus, this study aimed to determine 1) the factors associated with BZD refusal during the dispensing process and to determine 2) the association between BZD refusal and psychiatric medication adherence among patients diagnosed with depression or schizophrenia. Method: This study was conducted at the Specialist Clinic Pharmacy, Jerantut Hospital, Malaysia, from May 2018 to June 2018. BZD refusal status was determined after the dispensing process, and general information on BZD was determined using a questionnaire developed by the researchers. Medication adherence was assessed using the Malaysian Medication Adherence Scale (MALMAS). Results: Overall, 75 patients with psychiatric disorders participate in the study. Participants had been on BZD treatment for a mean of 32.8± 21.6 months. The BZD refusal rate was 38.7%. BZD refusal was significantly associated with several factors. A one-year increase in age resulted in increased odds of BZD refusal by 1.16 times (95% CI 1.05-1.27). Other factors were male gender (OR,9.14; 95% CI, 1.17-71.27), being single (OR,15.07; 95% CI, 1.12-184.28), the diagnosis of schizophrenia (OR,13.45; 95% CI, 1.75-10.33) and not having history of illicit drug use (OR,20.63; 95% CI, 2.49-171.0). Medication adherence was not associated with BZD refusal. Conclusion: BZD refusal was significantly associated with demographic factors such as increased age, male gender and being single and diagnosis factors namely schizophrenia diagnosis and not having history of illicit substance use. Thus, the need for BZD in these groups of patients should be reviewed regularly.