Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T21:05:33.875Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Family history as a predictor of poor long-term outcome in depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2018

Conor Duggan ,
Pak Sham ,
Carine Minne ,
Alan Lee  and
Robin Murray
Conor Duggan*
Affiliation:
East Midlands Centre for Forensic Mental Health, Arnold Lodge, Leicester
Pak Sham
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine Institute of Psychiatry and King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London
Carine Minne
Affiliation:
Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, Portman Clinic, London
Alan Lee
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry University Hospital Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham
Robin Murray
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine Institute of Psychiatry and King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London
*
Professor Conor Duggan, Head of the Division of Forensic Mental Health. Arnold Lodge, Cordelia Close, Leicester LE5 0LE
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

We investigated whether family history had prognostic significance in depression in a study which addressed some of the methodological shortcomings of previous studies.

Method

We collected family history data on a consecutive series of 89 patients admitted with RDC major depression, blind to the outcome of the proband. This comprised 116, 283 and 120 first-degree relatives examined with the SADS–L, FH–RDC and case note data, respectively. The outcome of 74 of these probands (83%), previously categorised into four operationally defined groups, was then examined.

Results

A positive family history of severe psychiatric illness (i.e. a relative with a history of either a psychosis, hospitalised depression or suicide) was associated with poor outcome in the proband. This association persisted after controlling for variable family size, age structure and gender. As family history was correlated with neither Kendell's neurotic/psychotic index nor the probands neuroticism score, an individual with high scores an all three would have a greatly increased chance of having a poor outcome.

Conclusions

A family history of severe psychiatric illness in a first-degree relative may be useful as one of the vulnerability factors for predicting poor long-term outcome in depression.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 173 , Issue 6 , December 1998 , pp. 527 - 530
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 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

Akiskal, H. S. (1988) Personality as a mediating variable in the pathogenesis of mood disorders: implications for theory, research, and prevention. In Depressive Illness: Prediction of Course and Outcome (eds Helgason, T. & Daly, R. J.), pp. 131–146. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1993) Practice guidelines for major depressive disorder in adults. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1–26.Google Scholar
Andreasen, M. C., Endkott, J., Spitzer, R. L., et al (1977) The family history method using diagnostic criteria. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 1229–1235.Google Scholar
Duggan, C. F., Lee, A. S. & Hurray, R. M. (1990) Does personality predict long-term outcome in depression? British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 19–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duggan, C. F., Lee, A. S. & Murray, R. M. (1991) Do different subtypes of hospitalized depressives have different long-term outcomes? Archives General Psychiatry, 49, 308–312.Google Scholar
Duggan, C. F., Sham, P., Lee, A., et al (1995) Neuroticism: a vulnerability marker for depression – evidence from a family study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 35, 139–143.Google Scholar
Duggan, C. F., Sham, P., Minne, C., et al (1998) Does the method of data collection affect the reporting of depression in the relatives of depressed probands? Journal of Affective Disorders, 47, 151–158.Google Scholar
Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. L. (1979) Use of diagnostic criteria and the Schedule of Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia to study affective disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 52–56.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. G. B. (1964) Manual of the Eysenck Personality Inventory London: University of London Press.Google Scholar
Kendell, R. E. (1968) Maudsley Monograph No. 18: The Classification of Depressive Illness. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., Taylor, E. B., Harding, K., et al (1988) Double depression and episodic major depression: demographic, clinical, familial, personality and socioenvironmental characteristics and short-term outcome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1226–1331.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, A. S. & Murray, R. M. (1988) The long-term outcome of Maudsley depressives. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 741–751.Google Scholar
Maj, M., Veltro, F. & Plrozzi, R. (1992) Pattern of recurrence of illness after recovery from an episode of major depression: a prospective study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 795–800.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, T. L., Akiskal, H. S., Scott-Strauss, A., et al (1981) Familial and developmental factors in characterological depressions. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 183–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, J., Barker, W. A. & Ecleston, D. (1988) The Newcastle chronic depression study: patient characteristics and factors, associated with chronicity. British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 28–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, J., Barker, W. A., Eccleston, D. & Boys, R. (1992) Can we predict the persistence of depression? British Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 633–637.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endkott, J. & Robin, E. (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773–782.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.