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The social causation of depression: a critique of the work of Brown and his colleagues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Christopher Tennant  and
Paul Bebbington
Christopher Tennant*
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
Paul Bebbington
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Christopher Tennant, M R C Social Psychiatry Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Brown and his colleagues have presented evidence for the social origins of depression from results of 2 community surveys in Camberwell. This paper examines critically their methodology, conceptualization of variables, mode of argument and statistical techniques. Log-linear analysis of their published data fails to substantiate their differentiation of risk variables into vulnerability factors and provoking agents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 8 , Issue 4 , November 1978 , pp. 565 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

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