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Social Factors and Affective Disorder: An Investigation of Brown and Harris's Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Elizabeth A. Campbell ,
Susan J. Cope  and
John D. Teasdale
Elizabeth A. Campbell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford
Susan J. Cope
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford
John D. Teasdale
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford
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Summary

The aetiological model proposed by Brown and Harris was examined in a sample of 110 working class women with children in Oxford. Using the same methodology as Brown and Harris, the role of provoking agents in the onset of affective disorder was found to be very similar to that which they originally described. Lack of an intimate relationship with a husband or boyfriend was found to act as a vulnerability factor, increasing the risk of psychiatric disorder in the face of a provoking agent. There was a trend for women with three or more children aged 14 or under to have an increased vulnerability. However, unemployment was not found to be a vulnerability factor. These results provide general support for Brown and Harris's causal model.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 143 , Issue 6 , December 1983 , pp. 548 - 553
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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