Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T07:32:12.898Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Gender, Parity and the Prevalence of Minor Affective Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. E. Bebbington ,
C. Dean ,
G. Der ,
J. Hurry  and
C. Tennant
P. E. Bebbington*
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
C. Dean
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham, Department of Psychiatry, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TH
G. Der
Affiliation:
Thomas Coram Research Unit, University of London
J. Hurry
Affiliation:
Thomas Coram Research Unit, University of London
C. Tennant
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Sydney
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Data from a two-stage survey of the general population were used to test the proposition that the over-representation of minor affective disorders among women was restricted to those who had had children, independently of current involvement in childcare. Initial analyses supported this proposition strongly. Subsequent linear logistic analyses were largely in favour of an effect of marriage rather than of parity, but it remains possible that part of the gender differences in rates of depression arises because of the effect of parity in raising female prevalence. If substantiated, the parity effect could operate through social or biological mechanisms; although its nature is unclear, it merits further investigation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 158 , Issue 1 , January 1991 , pp. 40 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bebbington, P. E. (1987) Marital status and depression: a study of English national admission statistics. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 75, 640–650.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E. (1988) The social epidemiology of clinical depression. In Handbook of Studies in Social Psychiatry (eds A. S. Henderson & G. Burrows). Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981) The epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561–580.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Sturt, E., Tennant, C., et al (1984) Misfortune and resilience: a community study of women. Psychological Medicine, 14, 347–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O. (1978) Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Der, G. & Bebbington, P. E. (1987) Depression in inner London: a register study. Social Psychiatry, 22, 73–84.Google Scholar
Gater, R. A., Dean, C. & Morris, J. (1989) The contribution of child bearing to the sex difference in first admission rates for unipolar affective psychosis. Psychological Medicine, 19, 719–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sturt, E., Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J., et al (1981) The Present State Examination used by interviewers from a survey agency: report from the Camberwell community survey. Psychological Medicine, 11, 185–192.Google Scholar
Surtees, P. G., Dean, C., Ingham, J. G., et al (1983) Psychiatric disorder in women from an Edinburgh community: associations with demographic factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 238–246.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M. & Klerman, G. L. (1977) Sex differences and the epidemiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 98–112.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M. & Klerman, G. L. (1985) Gender and depression. Trends in Neurosciences, 8, 416–420.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.