Field studies of social factors in relation to three types of psychological disorder.

Abstract

Community studies which have attempted to count untreated as well as treated cases of psychological disorder were analyzed for rates of psychosis, neurosis, and personality disorder according to age, sex, and social class. Psychosis as a whole is not consistently related to any of these variables, but schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis may be related to social class in different ways. Rates of neurosis are consistently higher for females than for males. Rates of personality disorder are higher for males and highest in the lowest social class. These results are examined for the light they throw on the etiology of the 3 types of disorder.

Mania and dysregulation in goal pursuit: a review

“…In each study, mania was underrepresented in lower classes. The same pattern was observed in studies conducted in Manhattan, Iceland, Japan, and Germany (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1967) and has since been replicated in Italy (Lenzi et al, 1993). These findings do not appear to be an artifact of greater awareness of diagnosis among upper class individuals-the association has been documented in epidemiological studies that have used standardized, reliable diagnostic interviews.…”

“…However, the findings were inconsistent and did not always support links between bipolar disorder and social accomplishment. One methodological issue that could explain the inconsistency is that most studies were based on treatment samples, recruited from either public or private hospitals (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1967). These hospitals were quite stratified economically, an effect that was further enhanced by the fact that the hospital system at that time typically had separate hospitals for African Americans, who often were paid less than Caucasian Americans (Malzberg, 1956).…”

Loading the Dice in Favor of Madness

“…A considerably higher percentage of females' dossiers (60 percent) than males' (18 percent) were labeled as neurotic, while males' dossiers fell mostly in the category of personality disorders (46 percent) as compared to only two female dossiers (2 percent) that received this label. This pattern is consistent with the findings of a number of epidemiological studies reported by Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend (1967).…”

Culture and schizophrenia

“…Some anthropologists (Hallowell, 1965) believe that the weight of evidence points to a basic unity of man across cultures which is reflected in common personality types, common basic strategies for dealing with stress, and common basic forms of psychological disturbance. This is supported by empirical evidence from recent cross-cultural studies, such as Inkeles' study of the 'syndrome of modernity' in six different parts of the world (1973) and by a mass of psychiatric research which stresses the 'cultural invariance in primary symptomatology'' (Zubin and Kietzman, 1966) or the 'worldwide similarity of relationships between psychopathological syndromes and social class' (Dohrenwend and Dohrenwend, 1967).…”