Life events and minor psychiatric morbidity in a community survey

Abstract

The aim of the study was to ascertain the relationships between life events and minor psychiatric morbidity and their associations between different socio‐economic groups living in the community. Using stratified random sampling, 3023 persons (1502 females and 1521 males) aged 13–64 years living in high‐rise apartments on the island of Singapore were surveyed. Mean age was 31 years, SD = 10.2 years, with the majority (39.9 per cent) being 30 years and below. More than half were married (54.0 per cent), and 2.9 per cent were divorced/separated or widowed; the rest (43.1 per cent) were single. A number of questionnaires, including the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ‐28) and the Life Events Scale (LES), were administered. Using the validated GHQ threshold levels, the estimated prevalence of minor psychiatric morbidity in this sample was 15.7 per cent. More females (N = 277) than males (N = 198) were found to experience minor psychiatric morbidity, with a male : female ratio of about 1.5 : 1.0 (p < 0.0001). A larger proportion of those in the younger age groups of 13–20 years (20 per cent) and 21–31 years (17.2 per cent) were high scorers, with a generally decreasing trend with increasing age; the oldest age group, 51–64 years, had the lowest rate (9.8 per cent) of GHQ high‐scorers. Those who were divorced/separated or widowed had the highest rate (25.8 per cent) of psychiatric morbidity, while those who were married had the lowest rate (12.8 per cent), with single people having an intermediate rate (21.0 per cent). Taking an arbitrary division of the Life Events Scale scores between low (0–24), intermediate (25–49) and high (50 and above), 12.2 per cent of the total sample registered in the intermediate range and 6.6 per cent in the high range, with no statistical difference between the genders. The age groups 21–30 and 31–40 had the highest proportions of persons with intermediate and high LES scores (24.0 per cent and 21.6 per cent, respectively), while the oldest age group, 51–64, had the lowest (10.5 per cent); these were statistically significant compared to the whole population (18.9 per cent). Those divorced/separated had the highest LES scores, while single people had the lowest, with the married in between. Possible reasons for these differences, both psychological and social, are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Emotional and immunological impact of marital loss on men and women

“…Regarding depression, the widowed group scored higher than the divorced group, and both groups scored significantly higher than the control group. This result has been reported by other studies that found higher levels of somatisation (Metrikin et al, 2003), along with more psychological distress (Ritsner and Ponizovsky, 2003), and a higher incidence of mental disorders (Ko et al, 2001) in widowed and divorced people compared with a control group.…”

“…Major studies of divorced and widowed people have found higher levels of somatization, more psychological distress, and higher incidence of mental disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV; APA, 1994; Ko et al, 2001; Metrikin, Dermatis, and Bunt, 2003; Ritsner and Ponizovsky, 2003). This relationship appeared particularly strong in divorced or widowed women (Villaverde, García, De la Fuente, and Benítez, 1999).…”

“…Situations that are defined as life events that involve emotional losses, (including the death of or separation from significant ones) are usually considered to be highly related to psychological problems (Zautra, 2003), psychopathological reactions (Ko, Kua, and Fones, 2001; Kposowa, 2000;Margraf and Poldrack, 2000;Simon, 2002), a decrease in immune competence (Ader, 2003;Chochinov and Holland, 1990;Kiecolt-Glaser et al 1997;Wadee, Kuschke, Kometz, and Berk, 2001), and even with the onset and recurrence of physical illnesses.…”

An Interaction Effect of Life-Threatening Experience, Self-Efficacy, and Financial Resources on Quality of Life Among Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Women

“…An individual's lifetime history of adversities is a strong predictor of his/her negative health and social outcomes. Adverse life events, such as ill-health, financial problems, death of a closely-related person, or unpleasant interpersonal relationships, can have negative impact on an individual’s psychological health, causing depression and anxiety (Korte et al, 2011 ; Li et al, 2012 ), an increased risk of suicide (Lau et al, 2010 ), substance use (Nordfjærn et al, 2010 ), psychiatric morbidity (Ko et al, 2001 ), and subjective age (Bachem et al, 2019 ). Childhood violence victimisation and intimate partner violence are also found to be strongly linked to such events (Yan & Karatzias, 2020 ).…”