Abstract
Little historical and epistemological analysis has been carried out in the field of epidemiology, especially in the epidemiology of mental disorders. This chapter studies a specific period of the development of studies in this field, between the years 1957 and 1973, in Chile. A team led by Juan Marconi and José Horwitz, from the University of Chile, made significant advances in conceptual and methodological aspects that allowed them to carry out three studies on the prevalence of mental disorders at the population level (1957–1958, 1965–1966 and 1967–1968). The main achievements of these studies were (a) the definition of six basic psychopathological models, (b) the definition of conceptual and operational criteria for these six psychopathological models and specific indicators to identify a case, and (c) a structured survey instrument for these studies. These investigations showed prevalence rates that were very similar to those of current studies in the country. These results served to illustrate the need to develop community-based programs for the prevention and treatment of mental disorders.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allende, S. (1939). La realidad médico social chilena [The Chilean social medical situation]. Santiago: Ministerio de Salubridad.
Alvarado, R., Minoletti, A., Torres-González, F., Moreno-Küstner, B., Madariaga, C., & Sepúlveda, R. (2012). Development of community care for people with schizophrenia in Chile. International Journal of Mental Health, 41, 48–61.
American Psychiatric Association. (1952). Diagnostic and statistical manual: Mental disorders. Washington DC: APA.
Berrios, G. E. (1996). The history of mental symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Berrios, G. E. (1999). Classifications in psychiatry: A conceptual history. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 145–160.
Horwitz, J., & Marconi, J. (1965). Evaluación de definiciones trasnculturales para estudios epidemiológicos en salud mental: aspectos metodológicos [Evaluation of transcultural definitions for epidemiological studies in mental health: Methodological aspects]. Santiago: Servicio Nacional de Salud – Universidad de Chile.
Horwitz, J., Muñoz, L., et al. (1958). Investigaciones epidemiológicas acerca de morbilidad mental en Chile [Epidemiological research on mental morbidity in Chile]. Revista del Servicio Nacional de Salud, 3, 277–309.
Marconi, J. (1969). Barreras culturales en la comunicación que afectan el desarrollo de programas de control y prevención del alcoholismo [Cultural barriers in communication that affect the development of alcoholism control and prevention programs]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 15, 351–355.
Marconi, J. (1971). Asistencia psiquiátrica intracomunitaria en el Área Sur de Santiago [Intra-community psychiatric assistance in the South Area of Santiago]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 17, 255–264.
Marconi, J. (1973). La revolución cultural chilena en programas de salud mental [Chilean cultural revolution in the programs of mental health]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 19, 17–33.
Marconi, J. (1976). Política de salud mental en América Latina [Mental health policy in Latin America]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 22, 112–118.
Marconi, J. (1992, November). Programa integral de control y prevención del alcoholismo [Comprehensive program for the control and prevention of alcoholism]. Inaugural conference at the First congress of alcohol and drugs of the Ibero-American Association for the Study of Alcohol and Drug Problems, Santiago, Chile.
Marconi, J., & Muñoz, L. (1970). Visión general de la investigación epidemiológica en salud mental en Chile [Overview of epidemiological research in mental health in Chile]. In J. Mariategui & G. A. Castro (Eds.), Estudios de epidemiología psiquiátrica en América Latina (pp. 115–125). Buenos Aires: ACTA.
Marconi, J., Varela, A., Rosenblat, E., Solari, G., et al. (1955). A survey on the prevalence of alcoholism among the adult population of a suburb of Santiago. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 16, 438–446.
Marconi, J., Díaz, J. P., & Mourgues, C. (1980). Programa integral de psicosis [Comprehensive program of psychosis]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 26, 211–222.
Marková, I. S., & Berrios, G. E. (2009). Epistemology of mental symptoms. Psychopathology, 42, 343–349.
Minoletti, A., & Zaccaría, A. (2005). Plan Nacional de Salud Mental en Chile: 10 años de experiencia [National Plan of Mental Health in Chile: Ten years of experience]. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 18, 346–358.
Minoletti, A., Marconi, J., Infland, S., & Naser, S. (1972). Programa intracomunitario de neurosis. Un modelo tentativo de prevención secundario en adultos. Comunicación preliminar [Intra-community neurosis program. A tentative model of secondary prevention in adults. Preliminary communication]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 18, 15–21.
Morabia, A. (2004). Epidemiology: An epistemological perspective. In A. Morabia (Ed.), History of epidemiologic methods and concepts (pp. 3–124). Birkhaüser Verlag: Basel.
Moya, L., Marconi, J., Horwitz, J., Muñoz, L., et al. (1969). Estudio de prevalencia de desórdenes mentales en el área norte de Santiago. Comparación de poblaciones de tres niveles socioeconómicos [Prevalence study of mental disorders in the northern area of Santiago. Comparison of populations of three socioeconomic levels]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 15, 137–148.
Pemjean, A. (1996). El proceso de reestructuración de la atención en salud mental y psiquiatría en Chile (1990–1996) [The process of restructuring mental health and psychiatric care in Chile (1990–1996)]. Cuadernos Médico Sociales, 37, 5–17.
Pemjean, A., Montenegro, H., Marconi, J., & Daniels, G. (1972). Formulación de un programa intracomunitario para combatir la deprivación cultural en la población de preescolares, de clase obrera, urbana chilena [Inner community program to counteract cultural deprivation in preschool youngsters of Chilean, urban, working class]. Revista Chilena de Neuro-Psiquiatría, 11, 51–56.
Susser, M., & Susser, E. (1996). Choosing a future for epidemiology. II. From black box to Chinese boxes and eco-epidemiology. American Journal of Public Health, 86, 674–677.
Vicente, B., Kohn, R., Rioseco, P., Saldivia, S., Levav, I., & Torres, S. (2006). Lifetime and 12-months prevalence of DSM-III-R disorders in the Chile psychiatry prevalence study. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1362–1370.
Vielmas, S., Jorquera, M. J., & Alvarado, R. (2015). La salud como derecho en la mission fundacional de la Escuela de Salud Pública, de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Chile: un análisis histórico [Health as a right in the founding mission of the School of Public Health, in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile: a historical analysis]. Revista de Salud Pública, 19, 69–76.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Alvarado, R., Valdivia, L. (2020). The Origins of Psychiatric Epidemiology in Chile in the Twentieth Century, as a Tool for Community Action: An Historical Analysis. In: Marková, I.S., Chen, E. (eds) Rethinking Psychopathology. Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43439-7_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43439-7_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-43438-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-43439-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)