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Socioeconomic status (SES) and psychiatric disorders

Are the issues still compelling?

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Summary

One of the most consistent findings in psychiatric epidemiology prior to 1980 has been that socioeconomic status (SES) was inversely related to the recent prevalence of a variety of important types of disorder. The findings raised and re-raised major issues about the role of adversity in these disorders. In recent years, however, research interest in these issues has been declining. At the same time, marked changes have been taking place in the case identification and diagnostic procedures available for epidemiological research. In this paper, I inquire into whether these changes in diagnostic concepts and methods have led to a change in the “facts” that gave rise to the issues about the role of SES. I rely particularly on results from our on-going epidemiological research in Israel and from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) studies in the United States, reevaluate the shift away from research on the role of SES, and offer suggestions for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York State Psychiatric Institute and Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Columbia University, 100 Haven Avenue/3-19H, 10031, New York, NY, USA

    B. P. Dohrenwend

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  1. B. P. Dohrenwend
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Work on this paper was supported by grants MH30710 and K5MH14663 from the US National Institute of Mental Health

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Dohrenwend, B.P. Socioeconomic status (SES) and psychiatric disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 25, 41–47 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00789069

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