Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-pnlb5 Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-10-31T16:30:47.439Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Impact of Recent Undesirable Life Events on Psychiatric Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

I. M. Goodyer ,
I. Kolvin  and
Sonia Gatzanis
I. M. Goodyer*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
I. Kolvin
Affiliation:
Nuffield Psychology and Psychiatry Unit, Fleming Memorial Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne
Sonia Gatzanis
Affiliation:
Nuffield Psychology and Psychiatry Unit, Fleming Memorial Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne
*
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester Road, Swinton, Manchester M27 IFG
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The timing and number of recent stressful life events occurring in the year before onset of emotional or behavioural disorder was examined in a consecutive sample of children. Overall, events increase the relative risk of psychiatric disorder by 3–6 times. Events occur throughout the 12 months, but tend to cluster in the 16 weeks nearest onset of symptoms. The number of events influences the onset of disorder: cases with multiple events are more likely to have an event within 16 weeks of onset; cases with single events are more likely to have the event 36–52 weeks before onset. Cases whose onset occurs within 4 weeks of an event may have experienced single or multiple events. The results support the concept of additivity of recent stressful events in some cases of emotional and behavioural disorders in childhood.

Information

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 151 , Issue 2 , August 1987 , pp. 179 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Brown, G. & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression. London: Tavistock Press.Google Scholar
Cooke, D. J. & Hole, D. J. (1983) The aetiological importance of stressful life events. British Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 394–400.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finlay-Jones, R. & Brown, G. (1981) Types of stressful life events and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders. Psychological Medicine, 11, 803–815.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I., Kolvin, I. A Gatzanis, S. (1985) Recent stressful life events in psychiatric disorder of childhood and adolescence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 517–524.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I., Kolvin, I. A Gatzanis, S. (1986) The influence of age and sex on the association between recent stressful life events and psychiatric disorder in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 681–687.Google Scholar
Mcmahon, B. & Pugh, T. (1970) Epidemiology Principles and Methods. Boston: Little Brown & Co.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. (1978) Contribution of life events to the causation of psychiatric illness. Psychological Medicine, 8, 245–253.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. (1983) Methodological aspects of life events research. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 5, 341–342.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985) Family and school influences: meanings, mechanisms and implications. Longitudinal Studies in Child Psychology and Psychiatry: Practical Lessons from Research Experience, (ed. Nicol, A. R.). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.