ArticleCommunications medicine2026
Deep learning for detecting depression in individuals with and without alexithymia.
Article in Communications medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Identification of suicidal ideation in major depressive disorder: A machine learning approach with multimodal digital features.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo accurately detect individuals' mental health issues using artificial intelligence and self-report scales, it is crucial to recognize how personal characteristics can affect the detection. This study focuses on the role of alexithymia-a condition where individuals struggle to recognize and articulate emotions and symptoms-in the detection of depression. We aimed to determine whether deep learning models could enhance the accuracy of depression detection in people with alexithymia compared to self-report scales.
methodsWe analyzed data from 194 patients with major depressive disorder and 105 community controls, employing eight large language models (LLMs) trained on transcript text from clinician-administered structured interviews using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD).
resultsHere we show that generalized logistic regression analysis indicates a positive relationship between alexithymia and depression. Using the HAMD as the gold standard, individuals with alexithymia show poorer performance on the self-reported Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Depression Subscale (HADS-D) in identifying depression (b = -0.37, p = .002). Four of the eight LLMs (AUCs=0.87-0.89) significantly outperform the HADS-D (AUC = 0.79) in depression detection (p <0.05). Subgroup analysis demonstrates that while LLMs achieve AUCs ranging from 0.79 to 0.96, the HADS-D only reaches an AUC of 0.35 for individuals with alexithymia.
conclusionsOur findings reveal that LLMs can potentially outperform self-report scales in detecting depression, particularly in those with alexithymia. These results highlight the importance of considering patient characteristics, such as alexithymia, when detecting depression. Deep learning analyses can enhance the accuracy of clinical assessments for depression and potentially for other mental health disorders.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.