Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T12:38:09.128Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Stress Incubation and the Onset of Affective Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Paul Bebbington*
Affiliation:
MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Geoff Der
Affiliation:
MRC Social and Community Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Brigid Maccarthy
Affiliation:
St Clement's Hospital, 2A Bow Road, London
Til Wykes
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Terry Brugha
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Leicester, Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary
Pip Sturt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Leicester, Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary
Jenny Potter
Affiliation:
Tavistock Clinic, 120 Belsize Lane, London
*
Correspondence

Abstract

Incubation is the process by which life events influence the onset of psychiatric disorder after an appreciable delay. It has long been recognised clinically. In this paper we use data from the Camberwell Collaborative Depression Study to see whether incubation effects can be demonstrated in depressive illness. We used a novel adaptation of survival analysis for this purpose. The results suggest that incubation does occur in depressive disorder, that it is much less important than the effect of life events close to onset, that it is apparent in women but not in men, and that it is no more evident preceding endogenous than neurotic symptom patterns.

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

Bebbington, P. E. (1987) Misery and beyond: the pursuit of disease theories of depression. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 33, 1320.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981) Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P. E., Brugha, T., MacCarthy, B., et al (1988) The Camberwell Collaborative Depression Study. I. Depressed probands: adversity and the form of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 754765.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorders in Women. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Bucknill, J. C. & Tuke, D. H. (1879) A Manual of Psychological Medicine. London: Churchill.Google Scholar
Griesinger, W. (1861) Die Pathologie und Therapie der Psychischen Krankheiten (2nd edn). Braunschweig. Wreden. (Trans, as Mental Pathology and Therapeutics, C. L. Robertson & J. Rutherford, 1867. London: New Sydenham Society.) Google Scholar
Horowitz, M. J. & Solomon, G. F. (1975) A prediction of delayed stress responses in Vietnam veterans. Journal of Social Issues, 31, 6780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute Inc. (1988) Additional SAS/STAT Procedures, Release 6.03, SAS Technical Report P-179. Cary: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Solomon, Z., Mikulincer, M., Waysman, M., et al (1991) Delayed and immediate posttraumatic stress disorder I. Differential clinical characteristics. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 26, 17.Google Scholar
Surtees, P. & Ingham, I. G. (1980) Life stress and depressive outcome: application of a dissipation model to life events. Social Psychiatry, 15, 2131.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Mann, S. A., Leff, J. L., 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. London: Institute of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.