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Mental Illness in Married Pairs in a Total Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Olle Hagnell
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, University of Lund, St. Lars Sjukhus 220 06 Lund, Sweden
Norman Kreitman
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF
J. Duffy
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh, EH10 5HF

Extract

Several surveys of mental illness in husband-wife pairs have all concluded that sick couples occur in the general population with a frequency significantly in excess of the number to be expected by chance (Penrose, 1944; Gregory, 1959; Kreitman, 1962; Ryle and Hamilton, 1962; Pond et al., 1963; Nielsen, 1964). The statistical methods employed in such investigations have been criticized by Hall et al. (1971), but these authors' arguments appear to suggest that the relative excess of conjoint illness has, if anything, been under-estimated.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1974 

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