Skip to main content
NCBI home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1982 Nov;72(11):1271–1279. doi: 10.2105/ajph.72.11.1271

Perspectives on the past and future of psychiatric epidemiology. The 1981 Rema Lapouse Lecture.

B P Dohrenwend, B S Dohrenwend
PMCID: PMC1650425  PMID: 7125030

Abstract

Two generations of epidemiological studies of the true prevalence of mental disorders have been conducted since the turn of the century. The first and smaller in number took place prior to World War II and was characterized by the use of records and key informants to define "cases." The second, utilizing the greatly expanded nomenclatures that followed World War II, were based for the most part on personal interviews with all subjects or samples there of in communities all over the world. In total, more than 80 different communities were studied by more than 60 different investigators or teams of investigators in these first and second generation studies. The legacy from these studies comes in two main parts: the first consists of methodological problems centering on the question of how to conceptualize and measure mental disorders independently of treatment status; the second is a set of consistent substantive findings about the amounts of various types of mental disorder, the proportions treated and untreated by members of the mental health professions, and the distribution of the disorders according to gender, rural vs urban location, and social class. Analyses of this legacy from first and second generation studies are presented with a view to developing informed speculations about what might be hoped for in the future, vastly different, third generation of studies in this field.

Full text

PDF
1271

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bash K. W. Untersuchungen über die Epidemiologie neuropsychiatrischer Erkrankungen unter der Landbevölkerung der Provinz Fars, Iran. Bibl Psychiatr Neurol. 1967;132:162–178. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. CAMPBELL D. T., FISKE D. W. Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychol Bull. 1959 Mar;56(2):81–105. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Crandell D. L., Dohrenwend B. P. Some relations among psychiatric symptoms, organic illness, and social class. Am J Psychiatry. 1967 Jun;123(12):1527–1538. doi: 10.1176/ajp.123.12.1527. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dohrenwend B. P., Crandell D. L. Psychiatric symptoms in community, clinic, and mental hospital groups. Am J Psychiatry. 1970 May;126(11):1611–1621. doi: 10.1176/ajp.126.11.1611. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dohrenwend B. P., Dohrenwend B. S. Sex differences and psychiatric disorders. AJS. 1976 May;81(6):1447–1454. doi: 10.1086/226229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dohrenwend B. P., Dohrenwend B. S. Social and cultural influences on psychopathology. Annu Rev Psychol. 1974;25:417–452. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ps.25.020174.002221. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Dohrenwend B. P., Shrout P. E., Egri G., Mendelsohn F. S. Nonspecific psychological distress and other dimensions of psychopathology. Measures for use in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1980 Nov;37(11):1229–1236. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1980.01780240027003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dohrenwend B. P. Social status and psychological disorder: an issue of substance and an issue of method. Am Sociol Rev. 1966 Feb;31(1):14–34. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dohrenwend B. P., Yager T. J., Egri G., Mendelsohn F. S. The psychiatric status schedule as a measure of dimensions of psychopathology in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Jun;35(6):731–737. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770300073007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Endicott J., Spitzer R. L. A diagnostic interview: the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Jul;35(7):837–844. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770310043002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Feighner J. P., Robins E., Guze S. B., Woodruff R. A., Jr, Winokur G., Munoz R. Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1972 Jan;26(1):57–63. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1972.01750190059011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gaitz C. M., Scott J. Age and the measurement of mental health. J Health Soc Behav. 1972 Mar;13(1):55–67. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. LANGNER T. S. A twenty-two item screening score of psychiatric symptoms indicating impairment. J Health Hum Behav. 1962;3:269–276. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. LIN T. A study of the incidence of mental disorder in Chinese and other cultures. Psychiatry. 1953 Nov;16(4):313–336. doi: 10.1080/00332747.1953.11022936. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Meile R. L., Haese P. N. Social status, status incongruence and symptoms of stress. J Health Soc Behav. 1969 Sep;10(3):237–244. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Phillips D. L., Segal B. E. Sexual status and psychiatric symptoms. Am Sociol Rev. 1969 Feb;34(1):58–72. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rin H., Chu H. M., Lin T. Y. Psychophysiological reactions of a rural and suburban population in Taiwan. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1966;42(4):410–473. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1966.tb06178.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Robins L. N., Helzer J. E., Croughan J., Ratcliff K. S. National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Its history, characteristics, and validity. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1981 Apr;38(4):381–389. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1981.01780290015001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sawyer J. Measurement and prediction, clinical and statistical. Psychol Bull. 1966 Sep;66(3):178–200. doi: 10.1037/h0023624. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Seiler L. H. The 22-item scale used in field studies of mental illness: a question of method, a question of substance, and a question of theory. J Health Soc Behav. 1973 Sep;14(3):252–264. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shader R. I., Ebert M. H., Harmatz J. S. Langner's Psychiatric Impairment Scale: a short screening device. Am J Psychiatry. 1971 Nov;128(5):596–601. doi: 10.1176/ajp.128.5.596. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shore J. H., Kinzie J. D., Hampson J. L., Pattison E. M. Psychiatric epidemiology of an Indian village. Psychiatry. 1973 Feb;36(1):70–81. doi: 10.1080/00332747.1973.11023747. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Spiro H. R., Siassi I., Crocetti G. M. What gets surveyed in a psychiatric survey? A case study of the MacMillan Index. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1972 Feb;154(2):105–114. doi: 10.1097/00005053-197202000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Spitzer R. L., Endicott J., Fleiss J. L., Cohen J. The psychiatric status schedule. A technique for evaluating psychopathology and impairment in role functioning. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1970 Jul;23(1):41–55. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1970.01750010043009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Spitzer R. L., Endicott J., Robins E. Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1978 Jun;35(6):773–782. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1978.01770300115013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Vernon S. W., Roberts R. E. Measuring nonspecific psychological distress and other dimensions of psychopathology. Further observations on the problem. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1981 Nov;38(11):1239–1247. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1981.01780360055005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES