Life-events and psychiatric disorders Part 1: some methodological issues
Abstract
Synopsis The paper focuses on recent criticisms of the study of the role of life-events in the onset of psychiatric conditions and suggests that measurement error and bias can be reasonably well controlled by various methodological procedures. Failure to comply with these may be expected, however, to increase rather than decrease the chances of establishing a ‘positive’ resuit. Three further factors to do with the design of studies and the analysis of data are discussed which are likely to mask real differences between patient and comparison group, and which therefore might explain the ‘negative’ results reported in the literature. They concern: (1) the choice of an appropriate comparison group; (2) specification of the length of the period between event and onset; and (3) specification of the event in terms of some measure of severity. Results from two London studies of schizophrenic and depressive patients are presented to illustrate the argument. The studies suggest that life-events do play an important causal role in bringing about both disorders.
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Interview-based measures of stressful life events likely produce more valid results than questionnaire-based measures.
“Nearly all such studies have relied on a questionnaire or interview-based retrospective assessments of SLEs completed by respondents with the interview-based measures likely producing more valid results (Brown, Sklair, Harris, & Birley, 1973; Dohrenwend, Link, Kern, Shrout, & Markowitz, 1987; Dohrenwend, Raphael, Schwartz, & Skodol, 1993; Dohrenwend, Dohrenwend, Dodson, & Shrout, 1984; Paykel, 198”
From The development of an environmental risk score using Swedish National Registers and its impact on subsequent episodes of major depression (2025) · cites this paper as Brown, Sklair, Harris, & Birley, 1973
Nearly all prior studies of stressful life events have relied on questionnaire or interview-based retrospective assessments completed by respondents.
“Nearly all such studies have relied on a questionnaire or interview-based retrospective assessments of SLEs completed by respondents with the interview-based measures likely producing more valid results (Brown, Sklair, Harris, & Birley, 1973; Dohrenwend, Link, Kern, Shrout, & Markowitz, 1987; Dohrenwend, Raphael, Schwartz, & Skodol, 1993; Dohrenwend, Dohrenwend, Dodson, & Shrout, 1984; Paykel, 198”
From The development of an environmental risk score using Swedish National Registers and its impact on subsequent episodes of major depression (2025) · cites this paper as Brown, Sklair, Harris, & Birley, 1973
Problems of interpretation remain for questionnaire or interview-based assessments of stressful life events, including accurate timing of events and memory biases and/or forgetting.
“Furthermore, problems of interpretation remain including accurate timing of events and memory biases and/or forgetting (Brown et al., 1973; Raphael & Cloitre, 1994; Raphael, Cloitre, & Dohrenwend, 1991), which would not impact on SLEs that were assessed from objective sources.”
From The development of an environmental risk score using Swedish National Registers and its impact on subsequent episodes of major depression (2025) · cites this paper as Brown et al., 1973
Cites
REMEMBERING: A STUDY IN EXPERIMENTAL AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Bartlett, F. C., & Burt, C. (1933) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1933.tb02913.x · Cited by 7,475 · see citing works
Crises and Life Changes and the Onset of Schizophrenia
Brown, G. W., & Birley, J. L. T. (1968) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2948405 · Cited by 680 · see citing works
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Causal Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and the Onset of Major Depression
Kendler, K. S., Karkowski, L. M., & Prescott, C. A. (1999) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/ajp.156.6.837 · Cited by 2,486 · see citing works
Kendler, K. S., Thornton, L. M., & Gardner, C. O. (2000) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.8.1243 · Cited by 721 · see citing works
Dohrenwend, B. P. (2006) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.477 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Brown, G. W., Harris, T. O., & Hepworth, C. (1995) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s003329170002804x · Cited by 483 · see citing works
Self-citationMethodological aspects of life events research
Paykel, E. S. (1983) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3999(83)90065-x · Cited by 412 · see citing works
Compas, B. E., Wagner, B. M., Slavin, L. A., & Vannatta, K. (1986) · American Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1007/bf00911173 · Cited by 340 · see citing works
The interview for recent life events
PAYKEL, E. S. (1997) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291796004424 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Dependent Stressful Life Events and Prior Depressive Episodes in the Prediction of Major Depression
Kendler, K. S., & Gardner, C. O. (2010) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.136 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Neonatal DNA methylation and early-onset conduct problems: A genome-wide, prospective study
Cecil, C. A. M., Walton, E., Jaffee, S. R., O'Connor, T., Maughan, B., Relton, C. L., Smith, R. G., McArdle, W., Gaunt, T. R., Ouellet-Morin, I., et al. (2018) · Development and Psychopathology · doi:10.1017/s095457941700092x · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Kendler, K. S., Lönn, S. L., Sundquist, J., & Sundquist, K. (2025) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291725000583 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Brown, G. W., Sklair, F., Harris, T. O., & Birley, J. L. T.
- Affiliations
- University of London (GB)
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 1973-02
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 74-87
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- OpenAlex
- W2048256881
- Cited by
- 343
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 14.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- life events, mental illness, schizophrenia, depression, measurement error, bias control, comparison group selection, event severity, research design
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Mental Disorders, Depression, Epidemiologic Methods, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Interview, Psychological, London, Male, Memory, Middle Aged, Research Design, Schizophrenia, Social Behavior, Social Environment, Stress, Psychological
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