Adversity and working class vulnerability to minor affective disorder

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the proposition that members of lower social classes are more likely than those from higher classes to develop minor affective disorders in the face of adverse experiences. This was examined using data from a psychiatric survey of the general population of Camberwell, S.E. London, U.K. Working class subjects experienced significantly more adversity than their middle class counterparts. However, the relationship between life events and psychiatric disorder was consistent and considerable in the working class group. It was attenuated or non-existent in middle class subjects, depending on the particular categorisation of the data. Log-linear analyses suggested that the basis of this finding was unclear. Both the results and the underlying reasons for them merit further investigation.