Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:30:58.721Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Paul Bebbington*
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Jane Hurry
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Christopher Tennant
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Elizabeth Sturt
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
J. K. Wing
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Paul Bebbington, MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.

Synopsis

A two-stage psychiatric survey of a random sample of adults aged 18–64 from Camberwell is described. Agency interviewers carried out the first stage (N = 800), using the shorter form of the Present State Examination (PSE). MRC interviewers, using the full PSE, saw a stratified sample of these (N = 310) in the second stage. A second interview was sought with all those of Index of Definition (ID) level 5 and above at the first interview (‘cases’) and with a random sample of those below that level. 20·9% refused or were never available for the first interview. Of the 800 subjects successfully interviewed, 10% refused a further interview and 12·4% of those finally selected for this interview were either unavailable or changed their minds. The MRC data, weighted to represent the whole sample, are used in our analyses. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder as defined in our study was calculated at 6·1% for men and 14·9% for women. Women shared a higher prevalence of disorder in the age-groups 25–34 and 45–54, but in men there was no significant association with age.

In contrast to the findings of Brown & Harris (1978), social class did not have a strong association with disorder. Single men had much higher rates than married men, while the reverse was true in women. In both sexes employment was associated with lower rates of disorder. An attempt to explain the high prevalence in women in terms of their role in marriage and child-care was only partly successful.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1981

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

Aitken, M. (1979). A simultaneous test procedure for contingency table models. Applied Statistics 28, 233242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagley, C. (1973). Occupational class and symptoms of depression. Social Science and Medicine 7, 327339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P. E. (1978). The epidemiology of depressive disorder. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 2, 297341.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J. & Tennant, C. (1981). Psychiatric disorders in selected immigrant groups in Camberwell. Social Psychiatry 16, 4351.Google Scholar
Benfari, R. C., Beiser, M., Leighton, A. H. & Mertens, C. (1972). Some dimensions of psychoneurotic behaviour in an urban sample. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 155, 7790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumenthal, M. D. & Dielman, T. E. (1975). Depressive symptomatology and role function in a general population. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 985991.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blyth, W. G. & Marchant, L. J. (1973). A self-weighting random sampling technique. Journal of the Market Research Society 15, 157162.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O. (1978). Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. Tavistock: London.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Harris, T. O. & Copeland, J. R. (1977 a). Depression and loss. British Journal of Psychiatry 130 118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., Davidson, S., Harris, T., MacLean, U., Pollock, S. & Prudo, R. (1977 b). Psychiatric disorder in London and North Uist. Social Science and Medicine 11, 367377.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Catalano, R. & Dooley, C. D. (1977). Economic predictions of depressed mood and stressful life events in a metropolitan community. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour 18, 292307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochrane, R. & Stopes-Roe, M. (1980). Factors affecting the distribution of psychological symptoms in urban areas of England. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica 61, 445460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Comstock, G. W. & Helsing, K. J. (1976). Symptoms of depression in two communities. Psychological Medicine 6, 551563.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dohrenwend, B. P. & Dohrenwend, B. S. (1969). Social Status and Psychological Disorder: A Causal Inquiry. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
Essen-Möller, E. (1956). Individual traits and morbidity in a Swedish rural population. Acta psychiatrica et neurologica scandinavica Supplementum 100.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. (1972). The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire. Maudsley Monograph no. 21. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Goldthorpe, J. & Hope, K. (1974). The Social Grading of Occupations: A New Approach and Scale. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Grad, de Alarcón J., Sainsbury, P. & Costain, W. R. (1975). Incidence of referred mental illness in Chichester and Salisbury. Psychological Medicine 5, 3254.Google Scholar
Hallström, T. (1970). Depressions among women in Gothenburg: an epidemiological study. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica Supplementum 217, 2526.Google Scholar
Hare, E. H. & Shaw, G. K. (1965). Mental Health on a New Housing Estate: A Comparative Study of Health in two Districts in Croydon. Maudsley Monograph no. 12. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
Henderson, S., Duncan-Jones, P., Byrne, D. G., Scott, R. & Adcock, S. (1979). Psychiatric disorders in Canberra: a standardised study of prevalence. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica 60, 355374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurry, J. & Sturt, E. (1981). Social performance in a population sample: relation to psychiatric symptoms. In The Concept of a Case: Theory and Method in Psychiatric Community Surveys (ed. Wing, J. K., Bebbington, P. E. and Robins, L.), pp. 202213. Grant MacIntyre: London.Google Scholar
Hurry, J., Tennant, C. & Bebbington, P. E. (1980). The selective factors leading to psychiatric referral. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica Supplementum 285, 315324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahoda, M. (1979). The impact of unemployment in the 1930s and the 1970s. Bulletin of the British Psychological Society 32, 309314.Google Scholar
Kasl, S. W., Gore, S. & Cobb, S. (1975). The experience of losing a job: reported changes in health, symptoms and illness behaviour. Psychosomatic Medicine 37, 106122.Google Scholar
Leighton, A. H., Lambo, T. A., Hughes, C. C., Leighton, D. C., Murphy, J. M. & Macklin, D. B. (1963). Psychiatric Disorder among the Yoruba. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, N.Y.Google Scholar
Leighton, D. C., Harding, J. S., Macklin, D. B., MacMillan, A. M. & Leighton, A. H. (1963). The Character of Danger (Stirling County Study Vol. 3). Basic Books: New York.Google Scholar
Mellinger, G. D., Valter, M. B., Parry, H. J., Manheimer, D. I. & Cisin, I. H. (1974). An overview of psychotherápeutic drug use in the United States. In Drug Use: Epidemiological and Sociological Approaches (ed. Josephson, E. and Carroll, E.), pp. 333366. Hemisphere: New York.Google Scholar
Mostow, E. & Newberry, P. (1975). Work role and depression in women: a comparison of workers and housewives in treatment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 45, 538548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newberry, P., Weissman, M. M. & Myers, J. K. (1979). Working wives and housewives: do they differ in mental status and social adjustment? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 49, 282291.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newson-Smith, J. G. & Hirsch, S. R. (1979). Psychiatric symptoms in self-poisoning patients. Psychological Medicine 9, 493500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
OPCS (1970). Classification of Occupations, 1970. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Orley, J. & Wing, J. K. (1979). Psychiatric disorders in two African villages. Archives of General Psychiatry 36, 513520.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearlin, L. I. (1975). Sex roles and depression. In Normative Life Crises. Proceedings of the Fourth Life-Span Developmental Psychology Conference (ed. Datan, N. and Ginsberg, L.), pp. 191207. Academic Press: New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radloff, L. (1975). Sex differences in depression: the effects of occupation and marital status. Sex Roles 1, 249265.Google Scholar
Shepherd, M. & Gruenberg, E. M. (1957). The age for neurosis. Millbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 35, 258265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, E. & Woodside, M. (1951). Patterns of Marriage: A Study of Marriage Relationships in the Urban Working Classes. Cassell: London.Google Scholar
Srole, L., Langner, T., Michael, S. T., Opler, M. K. & Rennie, T. A. C. (1962). Mental Health in the Metropolis. McGraw-Hill: New York.Google Scholar
Sturt, E., Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J. & Tennant, C. (1981). The Present State Examination used by interviewers from a Survey Agency: Report from the Camberwell Community Survey. Psychological Medicine 11, 185192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, , Lord, & Chave, S. (1964). Mental Health and Environment. Longman Green: London.Google Scholar
Tennant, C., Hurry, J. & Bebbington, P. E. (1980). Parent–child separations during childhood: their relation to adult psychiatric morbidity and to psychiatric referral. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica Supplementum 285, 324331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tennant, C., Smith, A., Bebbington, P. & Hurry, J. (1981). Parental loss in childhood, adult psychiatric impairment and contact with psychiatric services. Archives of General Psychiatry (in the press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uhlenhuth, E. H., Lipmann, R. S., Balter, M. B. & Stern, M. (1974). Symptom intensity and life stress in the city. Archives of General Psychiatry 31, 759764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Väisänen, E. (1975). Psychiatric disorders in Finland. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica Supplementum 263, 2233.CrossRefGoogle 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.Google Scholar
Watts, F. N. & Bennett, D. H. (1977). Previous occupational stability as a predictor of employment after psychiatric rehabilitation. Psychological Medicine 7, 709712.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. & Klerman, G. L. (1977). Sex differences and the epidemiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 34, 98112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. & Myers, J. (1978 a). Rates and risks of depressive symptoms in a United States urban community. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica 57, 219231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissman, M. M. & Myers, J. (1978 b). Affective disorders in a United States urban community: the use of Research Diagnostic Criteria in an epidemiological survey. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 13041314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissman, M. M. & Paykel, E. S. (1974). The Depressed Woman: A Study of Social Relationships. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. (1980 a). Methodological issues in psychiatric case identification. Psychological Medicine 10, 510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K. (1980 b). The use of the Present State Examination in General Population Surveys. Acta psychiatrica scandinavica Supplementum 285, 230240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Bransby, E. R. (1970). Psychiatric Case Registers. DHSS Statistical Report Series no. 8. HMSO: London.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Fryers, T. (1976). Psychiatric Services in Camberwell and Salford: Statistics from the Camberwell and Salford Psychiatric Registers, 19641974. MRC Social Psychiatry Unit: London.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. & Sturt, E. (1978). The PSE–ID–CATEGO System. Supplementary Manual. MRC Social Psychiatry Unit: London.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974). The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Henderson, A. S. & Winkle, M. (1977). The rating of symptoms by a psychiatrist and a non-psychiatrist: a study of patients referred from general practice. Psychological Medicine 7, 713715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, J. K., Mann, S. A., Leff, J. P. & Nixon, J. M. (1978). The concept of a case in psychiatric population surveys. Psychological Medicine 8, 203218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J. & Tennant, C. (1981). The prevalence in the general population of disorders familiar to psychiatrists in hospital practice. In The Concept of a Case: Theory and Method in Psychiatric Community Surveys (ed. Wing, J. K., Bebbington, P. E. and Robins, L.), pp. 4561. Grant MacIntyre: London.Google Scholar
Wing, L., Wing, J. K., Stevens, B. & Griffiths, D. (1972). An epidemiological and experimental evaluation of industrial rehabilitation of chronic psychotic patients in the community. In Evaluating a Community Psychiatric Service (ed. Wing, J. K. and Hailey, A. M.), pp. 283308. Oxford University Press: London.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1978). Mental Disorders: Glossary and Guide to their Classification in accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases. WHO: Geneva.Google Scholar