Seasonal Affective Disorder really just a “ Folk Construct ” ?

In the article “Major Depression With Seasonal Variation: Is It a Valid Construct?” recently published in Clinical Psychological Science, Traffanstedt et al. (2016) conclude that the Major Depression (MD) subtype Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is “a folk psychological construct with limited empirical support” (p.1). In contrast to many prior studies, their report focused exclusively on DSM criterion symptoms of MD. We discuss potential limitations that result from this specific focus for the investigation of depression subtypes in general, and SAD specifically. Alternative analytic strategies may facilitate further insights into the validity of SAD.