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Prevalence of Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms and Associated Social Factors in Mothers in Dunedin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Rob McGee ,
Sheila Williams ,
Javad H. Kashani  and
Phil A. Silva
Rob McGee
Affiliation:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Otago Medical School, P. O. Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand
Sheila Williams
Affiliation:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit
Javad H. Kashani
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Missouri, Columbia, 803 Stadium Rd., Columbia, Missouri, USA
Phil A. Silva
Affiliation:
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit
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Summary

A large sample of women (n = 899) from Dunedin, New Zealand, completed a self-report questionnaire on depressive symptoms. On this basis, about 8 per cent of the sample were identified as having major depressive disorder. These women tended to have a history of previously reported psychological symptoms and formal treatment for depression. A significantly high proportion of the depressed group had been young at first pregnancy and had since been separated from their partners. The depressed women also reported more behaviour problems in their children, but these reports were not confirmed by teachers' reports or by the children's self-reports, suggesting a response bias in depressed women towards reporting problems.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 143 , Issue 5 , November 1983 , pp. 473 - 479
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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