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Stress Incubation and the Onset of Affective Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Paul Bebbington ,
Geoff Der ,
Brigid Maccarthy ,
Til Wykes ,
Terry Brugha ,
Pip Sturt  and
Jenny Potter
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
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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
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 162 , Issue 3 , March 1993 , pp. 358 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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