Document Type : Original Article
Researchers
1 Faculty of psychology and education, Allameh Tabatabaii University, Tehran, Iran
2 Institute for cognitive science studies, Tehran, Iran
Ministerial Ethics Committee
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders, significantly affecting individuals’ cognitive and linguistic performance. This study aims to identify and analyze linguistic markers in the speech of Persian-speaking individuals diagnosed with MDD. The research focuses on potential linguistic differences between depressed and non-depressed individuals, particularly in the use of pronouns, negative verbs, emotionally negative words, and syntactic complexity or simplification.
The methodology follows a causal-comparative (ex post facto) design. The target population includes Persian-speaking adults with and without a clinical diagnosis of MDD. Participants will be selected through purposive and convenience sampling. The instruments used in this study include a depression screening questionnaire (e.g., BDI-II) to confirm the psychological status of participants and the “Goftanegar” software to record and analyze semi-structured speech samples.
Speech data will be recorded, transcribed, and processed using computational linguistic analysis techniques. Statistical analysis will be conducted using independent samples t-tests or ANOVA to examine significant linguistic differences between the two groups. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the identification of language-based markers of depression and may assist in the development of early screening tools for psychological disorders, particularly in Persian-speaking populations.