Table 1.

Previous Studies on the Association Between Childhood SES and Risk for Schizophrenia in Adulthood

Author	Year	Country	N	Measures of SES	Central Findings
Goldberg et al10	1963	United Kingdom	369	Paternal occupation	Paternal SES was similar to that in the general population.
Turner et al4	1967	United States	214	Paternal occupation	Lower paternal occupational prestige during childhood was associated with higher rates of schizophrenia in offspring.
Grünfeld et al11	1968	Norway	186 (85 with schizophrenia diagnosis)	Paternal occupation	Paternal SES was similar to that in the general population.
Hare et al12	1972	United Kingdom	624 (175 with schizophrenia diagnosis)	Paternal occupation	Paternal SES was similar to that in the general population.
Wiersma et al13	1983	Netherlands	83 (34 with schizophrenia diagnosis)	Paternal occupation	Only 38% of the schizophrenic patients in the study came from low SES backgrounds.
Malama et al15	1988	Greece	486	Paternal education	Greater paternal education was associated with higher risk for schizophrenia.
Dohrenwend et al19	1992	Israel	4914	Ethnicity	Advantaged ethnic status (European origins) was associated with higher rates of schizophrenia than disadvantaged ethnic status (North African origins).
Castle et al7	1993	United Kingdom	256	Place of birth and paternal occupation	Patients with schizophrenia were more likely to have been born in a low SES area and to have fathers who worked in manual labor.
Dauncey et al8	1993	United Kingdom	67	Place of birth	Rates of schizophrenia were higher among participants born in low SES areas.
Jones et al14	1994	United Kingdom	5362	Paternal occupation and place of birth	No association was found between childhood SES and risk for schizophrenia.
Mäkikyrö et al16	1997	Finland	11 017	Paternal occupation	Higher SES was associated with greater risk for schizophrenia.
Timms17	1998	Sweden	15 117	Parental occupation	Higher SES was associated with greater risk for schizophrenia.
Mulvany et al18	2001	Ireland	704	Paternal occupation	Risk of schizophrenia was slightly higher among participants with high SES. However, these findings may be associated with the younger age of participants in the high SES group.
Harrison et al9	2001	United Kingdom	280	Paternal occupation and maternal place of residence at birth	Risk of schizophrenia was higher among those with low SES.
Eaton et al1	2001	—	Review	Paternal occupation	Three out of the five studies indicated that high SES was associated with higher risk for schizophrenia. In one study, the risk was nonsignificantly associated with SES and in one study low SES was associated with higher risk.
Byrne et al20	2004	Denmark	200 294	Parents' occupation, education, income, wealth	Increased risk was associated with parental unemployment and low income. Increased risk was not associated with parental wealth, but was associated with greater parental education.
Wicks et al3	2005	Sweden	2.1 million	Parental occupation, social welfare benefits, unemployment, single-parenthood, and housing type	Higher risk for schizophrenia was associated with lower SES, as well as cumulatively (the greater the number of risk factors)
Saraceno et al21	2005	Review	—	Various measures	While the majority of studies do not support the association between childhood SES and later risk for schizophrenia, a number of studies have found lower childhood SES to be associated with greater risk.
Werner et al6	2007	Israel	71 165	Individual SES: parents' education and occupational status	Lower individual and community SES were associated with greater risk for schizophrenia.
				Community SES: residential area
Corcoran et al5	2009	Israel	88 829	Paternal occupation at birth	No linear association was found between SES and risk for schizophrenia. However, an increased risk for schizophrenia was found among the lowest SES group.

Note: SES, socioeconomic status.