Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T11:59:10.328Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Adversity in Groups with an Increased Risk of Minor Affective Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. E. Bebbington
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
C. Tennant
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney
J. Hurry
Affiliation:
Thomas Coram Research Unit, University of London

Abstract

The hypothesis that the sociodemographic distribution of minor affective disorder can be explained by high-risk groups experiencing more psychosocial stress, defined in terms of life events and chronic difficulties, was tested. Linear logistic analysis of data from 275 subjects identified in a community psychiatric survey provided little support for this. Although high-risk groups uniformly experienced more psychosocial adversity, and adversity was strongly associated with disorder, this did not provide an adequate explanation for the increased risk of disorder. This must therefore be explained in other ways.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adelstein, A. M., Downfam, D. Y., Stein, Z., et al (1968) The epidemiology of mental illness in an English city. Social Psychiatry, 3, 4759.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E. (1987) Marital status and depression: a study of English national admission statistics. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 75, 640650.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E. (1988) The social epidemiology of clinical depression. In Handbook of Studies in Social Psychiatry (eds A. S. Henderson & G. Burrows). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E. (1991) The epidemiology of affective disorders. In Social Psychiatry: Theory Method and Practice (ed. P. E. Bebbington). New Brunswick, NJ: Transactions.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Tennant, C. & Hurry, J. (1981a) Life events and the nature of psychiatric disorder in the community. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 345366.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981b) Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561580.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Sturt, E., Tennant, C., et al (1984) Misfortune and resilience: a community study of women. Psychological Medicine, 14, 347363.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J. & Tennant, C. (1986) Adversity and working class vulnerability to minor affective disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 11, 115120.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E. & Tansella, M. (1989) Gender, marital status and treated affective disorders in South Verona: a case-register study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 17, 8391.Google Scholar
Bell, R. A., LeRoy, J. B. & Stephenson, J. J. (1982) Evaluating the mediating effects of social support upon life events and depressive symptoms. Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 325340.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Birley, J. L. T. (1968) Crises and life changes and the onset of schizophrenia. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 96, 203214.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O. (1978) Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Cadoret, R. J., Winokur, G., Dorzab, J., et al (1972) Depressive disease: life events and onset of illness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 133136.Google Scholar
Comstock, G. W. & Helsing, K. J. (1976) Symptoms of depression in two communities. Psychological Medicine, 6, 551563.Google Scholar
Cooke, D. J. (1981) Life events and syndromes of depression in the general population. Social Psychiatry, 16, 181186.Google Scholar
Cooke, D. J. & Hole, D. J. (1983) The importance of stressful life events. British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 397400.Google Scholar
Costello, C. G. (1982) Social factors associated with depression: a retrospective community study. Psychological Medicine, 12, 329339.Google Scholar
Cox, D. R. (1970) Analysis of Binary Data. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Der, G. & Bebbington, P. E. (1987) Depression in inner London: a register study. Social Psychiatry, 22, 7384.Google Scholar
Dohrenwend, B. P. & Dohrenwend, B. S. (1969) Social Status and Psychological Disorder: A Causal Inquiry. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Dohrenwend, B. S. (1970) Social class and stressful events. In Psychiatric Epidemiology (eds E. H. Hare & J. K. Wing). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dohrenwend, B. S. (1973) Social status and stressful life events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 225235.Google Scholar
Faris, R. E. L. & Dunham, H. W. (1939) Mental Disorders in Urban Areas. New York: Hafner.Google Scholar
Fava, G. A., Munari, F., Pavan, L., et al (1981) Life events and depression: a replication. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 159165.Google Scholar
Goldthorpe, J. & Hope, K. (1974) The Social Grading of Occupations: A New Approach and Scale. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Henderson, A. S., Byrne, D. G. & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981) Neurosis and the Social Environment. Sydney: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C. & Cleary, P. D. (1980) Social class and psychological distress. American Sociological Review, 45, 463478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Langner, T. S. & Michael, S. T. (1963) Life Stress and Mental Health: The Midtown Manhattan Study. London: Collier/MacMillan Ltd.Google Scholar
Markush, R. E. & Favero, R. V. (1974) Epidemiological assessment of stressful life events, depressed mood and psychophysiological symptoms: a preliminary report. In Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects (eds B. S. Dohrenwend & B. P. Dohrenwend). New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Myers, J., Lindenthal, J. & Pepper, M. (1974) Social class, life events and psychiatric symptoms: a longitudinal study. In Stressful Life Events: Their Nature and Effects (eds B. S. Dohrenwend & B. P. Dohrenwend). New York: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Myers, J. K., Dienelt, M. N., et al (1969) Life events and depression: a controlled study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 21, 753760.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Prusoff, B. A. & Uhlenhuth, E. H. (1971) Scaling of life events. Archives of General Psychiatry, 25, 340347.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S. & Rowan, P. (1979) Recent advances in research on affective disorders. In Recent Advances in Clinical Psychiatry (ed. K. Granville Grossman). Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.Google Scholar
Payne, C. D. (ed.) (1986) The Generalised Linear Interactive Modelling System: Manual. Oxford: Numerical Algorithms Group.Google Scholar
Pearlin, L. I. & Johnson, J. S. (1977) Marital status, life strains and depression. American Sociological Review, 42, 704715.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearlin, L. I. & Lieberman, M. A. (1977) Social sources of emotional distress. In Research in Community and Mental Health (ed. R. Simmons). Greenwich, Connecticutt: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Pederson, A. M., Barry, D. J. & Babigian, H. M. (1972) Epidemiological considerations of psychotic depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 193197.Google Scholar
Radloff, L. (1975) Sex differences in depression: the effects of occupation and marital status. Sex Roles, 1, 249265.Google Scholar
Rosenfield, S. (1980) Sex differences in depression: do women always have higher rates. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 21, 3342.Google Scholar
Sturt, E., Bebbinoton, P. E., Hurry, J., et al (1981) The PSE used by interviewers from a survey agency. Psychological Medicine, 11, 185192.Google Scholar
Surtees, P. G., Dean, C., Ingham, J. G., et al (1983) Psychiatric disorder in women from an Edinburgh community: associations with demographic factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 238246.Google Scholar
Surtees, P. G., Miller, P. McC., Ingham, J. G., et al (1986) Life events and the onset of affective disorder: a longitudinal general population study. Journal of Affective Disorder, 10, 3750.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tennant, C., Smith, A., Bebbinoton, P. E., et al (1979) The contextual rating of life events: the concept and its reliability. Psychological Medicine, 9, 525528.Google Scholar
Thoits, P. A. (1982) Life stress, social support and psychological vulnerability: epidemiological considerations. Journal of Community Psychology, 10, 341362.Google Scholar
Thompson, K. C. & Hendrie, H. C. (1972) Environmental stress in primary depressive illness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 130132.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H. & Paykel, E. S. (1973a) Symptom intensity and life events. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 473477.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H. & Paykel, E. S. (1973b) Symptom configuration and life events. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 744748.Google Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H., Lipmann, R. S., Balter, M. B., et al (1974) Symptom intensity and life stress in the city. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 759764.Google Scholar
von Zerssen, D. & Weyerer, S. (1982) Sex differences in rates of mental disorders. International Journal of Mental Health, 11, 945.Google Scholar
Warheit, G. J., Holzer, C. E. & Schwab, J. J. (1973) An analysis of social class and racial differences in depressive symptomatology: a community study. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 14, 291295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. & Klerman, G. L. (1977) Sex differences and the epidemiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 98112.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Mann, S. A., Leff, J. P., et al (1978) The concept of a case in psychiatric population surveys. Psychological Medicine, 8, 203217.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Sturt, E. (1978) The PSE–ID–CATEGO System: A Supplementary Manual (mimeo). London: Institute of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Bebbington, P. E., Tennant, C., et al (1981) The prevalence in the general population of disorders familiar to psychiatrists in hospital practice. In What is a ‘Case’? The Problem of Definition in Psychiatric Community Surveys (eds J. K. Wing, P. E. Bebbington & L. Robins). London: Grant MacIntyre.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Bebbington, P. E. (1985) The epidemiology of depression. In Depression: Treatment, Assessment and Research (eds E. E. Beckham & W. R. Leber). Homewood, Illinois: Down-Jones-Irwin.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.