Premium
Demographic, family, and occupational characteristics associated with major depression: the Harvard study of moods and cycles
Author(s) -
Harlow B. L.,
Cohen L. S.,
Otto M. W.,
Liberman R. F.,
Spiegelman D.,
Cramer D. W.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0447.2002.1o102.x
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , demography , family history , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , gerontology , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Objective: This study assesses the extent to which women with and without major depression differ by demographic, familial, and occupational characteristics. Method: From a community‐based sample, the authors identified 332 women with and 644 women without current or past major depression based on Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM‐IV. Demographic and background interviews were conducted in‐person. Results: Depressed women were more likely to have gained ≥35 lbs between age 18 and study enrolment (OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.5), experienced divorce (OR=2.0, 95% CI 1.4–2.8), or changed occupations (OR=1.5, 95% CI 1.1–2.1) compared with non‐depressed women. Compared with women with no brothers, those with ≥1 brothers were less likely to have a history of depression (OR=0.8, 95% CI 0.6–1.1), whereas compared with women with no sisters, those with ≥1 sisters were more likely to have current or past depression (OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.0–1.9). These findings were not influenced by family sibship size. Conclusion: These results illustrate demographic differences between women with and without major depression and that sibship gender rather than size may also influence risk.