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The Zurich study —A prospective epidemiological study of depressive, neurotic and psychosomatic syndromes

I. Problem, methodology

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Summary

The purpose and methodology of a 4-year longitudinal study based on a cohort aged 20 years are presented. A two-stage procedure was chosen; in 1978, 2201 males and 2346 females, aged 19–20, were examined. This sample was representative of the respective age group in the Canton of Zurich. From high and low-scorers (SCL-90), 292 males and 299 females were randomly selected for interview and for a prospective study. Subsequent investigations were carried out by questionnaires and by a personal interview. The instruments chiefly consisted of a semi-structured interview (SPIKE), a clinical syndrome list (SL), a90-item symptom checklist (SCL-90R), a life-event-inventory, scales measuring coping behavior and dissimulation, and an extensive sociological interview dealing with sociodemographic characteristics and social adjustment.

This paper gives an account of the methodological aspects of the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zurich, Research Department, Psychiatric University Hospital, P.O. Box 68, CH-8029, Zurich, Switzerland

    J. Angst, A. Dobler-Mikola & J. Binder

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  1. J. Angst
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  2. A. Dobler-Mikola
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  3. J. Binder
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Project supported by grants 3.804.76 and 3.956.80 from the Swiss National Science Foundation

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Angst, J., Dobler-Mikola, A. & Binder, J. The Zurich study —A prospective epidemiological study of depressive, neurotic and psychosomatic syndromes. Eur Arch Psychiatr Neurol Sci 234, 13–20 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00432878

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