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Depression: Demographic factors in the distribution of different syndromes in the general population

  • Depressive Disorders
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Summary

Epidemiologists attempt to identify the causes of disorders by examining their demographic distribution. Psychiatric epidemiologists have frequently used measures ofgeneralized psychological disturbance. It is argued that the epidemiologist's purpose is better served by the use of measures ofspecific psychological syndromes. Four depressive syndromes, that were derived by Principal Components Analysis and called ‘Anxiety-Depression’, ‘Cognitive-Depression’, ‘Vegetative-Depression’, and ‘Classic-endogenous Depression’, were considered. Their relationship with age, sex, marital status, employment status and social class were out-lined and the variability in their demographic distribution was highlighted. It was concluded that the use of general rather than specific measures of depressive disorder may account for some of the disparities in the relevant epidemiological literature.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    David J. Cooke

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  1. David J. Cooke
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Cooke, D.J. Depression: Demographic factors in the distribution of different syndromes in the general population. Soc Psychiatry 17, 29–36 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00583890

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