Using a reliable and valid measure of reported parental care and overprotection (the Parental Bonding Instrument) patients with two types of depressive disorder were compared with a control group, and the relationships to depressive experience examined in a non-clinical group as well. Bipolar manic-depressive patients scored like controls whereas neurotic depressives reported less parental care and greater maternal overprotection. Depressive experience in the non-clinical group was negatively associated with low parental care and weakly associated with parental overprotection.

All the children (ages 5–15) of 14 consecutive patients admitted to hospital at the National Institute of Mental Health with a diagnosis of bipolar or unipolar affective disorder were studied. The children were seen twice, four months apart, and assessed by an interview and rating scales. The parents were also assessed. Of 14 boys, five were depressed on both interviews and three were depressed on one interview. Four of the 16 girls were depressed on both interviews and 11 were depressed on one interview. The clinical picture and the ratings showed the boys, but not the girls, to have a significant correlation for depression on both interviews. The children diagnosed as suffering from depression showed the symptoms of a primary unipolar affective disorder without other significant pathology.

Since neither the unipolar nor the bipolar theories of manic-depressive psychosis explain all its features, an alternative model was tested. The hypotheses are that mixed affective psychoses represent a superimposition on hypomania of a second type of depression which can sometimes develop from the depressive phase of manic-depressive psychosis, and that schizophrenia occurring in the course of a manic-depressive illness is an alternative to mixed affective psychosis.

From an examination of the clinical histories of a random sample of people with bipolar manic-depressive psychosis, evidence was found to support both ideas.

A follow-up study of patients diagnosed as suffering from presenile dementia has revealed a high incidence of erroneous diagnoses. Of 52 patients discharged from hospital with this diagnosis, information was obtained 5–15 years later on 51. Eighteen were alive and the diagnosis was rejected in 16 (31 per cent). Possible reasons for the mistaken diagnoses are discussed.

In two series of psychiatric patients (numbering about 6,000 and 2,000 respectively), the mean age of the mothers at the time of the patients' birth was found to be very significantly above expectation from the general population, and this was so for each of the major diagnostic groups. In the second series, the age of the fathers was also found to be very significantly above that expected from a sample survey of the general population, and this was so for each diagnostic group. Fathers' age was raised more than mothers', and was highest for schizophrenia. The raised parental age could not be explained in terms of the patient's year of birth or his father's social class. The raised mothers' age could largely be accounted for by regression on the raised fathers' age. The present findings, and those of previous studies, seem best explained on the hypothesis of a constitutional parental trait leading to delayed marriage.

Parental age (at patient's birth) and birth order were studied in 623 male and 89 female patients diagnosed as homosexual, who were born in England and Wales and first attended the Maudsley Hospital between the years 1961–1975. For male patients, mean parental ages were significantly higher than expectation, and mean birth order was significantly later. Regression analysis indicated that the raised fathers' age was probably of more aetiological importance than the raised mothers' age. The results confirm those of previous studies. The female patients did not show a raised parental age or late birth order.

In view of recent findings in Japan, and in England and Wales, data on schizophrenic births in the United States were reexamined to see if seasonal shifts had occurred. In Missouri a progressive shift from February to April and May was noted between 1921 and 1930 and between 1941 and 1950. In five New England states there was no shift over the same period. Data were then obtained to compare the Missouri shift with two hypotheses previously put forward to explain schizophrenic birth seasonality: (1) that it is related to the seasonality of general births, and (2) that it is related to seasonal temperature variation. Neither hypothesis was supported by the data.

An account is given of some of the topics discussed during a small informal weekly open group meeting of chronic schizophrenic patients, based on occasional notes compiled over eleven years. The main feature of the patients' condition as displayed was poverty—clinical, social, behavioural, material and financial—and certain features suggested an organic aetiology. Reasons are given for considering that the patients' condition was predominantly caused by schizophrenia rather than by institutionalism.

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of assessing pictures produced by acute schizophrenic subjects as a technique in differential diagnosis. It was hypothesized that art productions by schizophrenics differ from those both by other acute psychiatric patients and by ‘normals'. Coloured slides were made from pictures produced in standardized conditions by three samples each of thirty subjects. It was found that repetition of abstract forms was the only factor studied to be associated specifically with schizophrenia; whereas the presence of pictorial imbalance, overelaboration, childlike features, uncovered space, detail and colour variety were found to be associated with psychiatric admission irregardless of diagnosis. Doubt is cast on the use of art as a technique in differential psychiatric diagnosis.

Data are presented from four studies which compare rates of psychological disturbance for three groups of immigrants to Britain and natives respectively. Children of West Indian and Asian parents are compared to native British children on the Rutter Teachers' Questionnaire and on rates of admission to psychiatric hospitals. Asian children have lower rates of behavioural deviance and mental hospital admissions than do British children. Children of West Indian immigrants show no more behavioural deviance in schools than do British children, but have considerably higher rates of admission to mental hospitals. The pattern for adults is remarkably similar to that shown by children, even though different definitions of psychological disturbance are used. The findings are discussed in the context of previous studies of immigrants to Britain and contemporary theories of immigrant adjustment.

‘Include suggestions for reading which you consider to be important, memorable, relevant, unusual, informative—or whatever’, said the Book Review Editor, his own wording meeting several of these criteria. The informative literature on depression is vast, so that a comprehensive review is not to be considered. I present here an arbitrary selection of what has seemed personally useful or memorable, with a bias, for maximum information value, from each reference, to books and review articles. Apologies for the many fine works of equal quality which have been left out.