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How common are common mental disorders? Evidence that lifetime prevalence rates are doubled by prospective versus retrospective ascertainment.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Most information about the lifetime prevalence of mental disorders comes
from retrospective surveys, but how much these surveys have undercounted due to recall
failure is unknown. We compared results from a prospective study with those from retrospective
studies. METHOD: The representative 1972-1973 Dunedin New Zealand birth cohort (n=1037)
was followed to age 32 years with 96% retention, and compared to the national New
Zealand Mental Health Survey (NZMHS) and two US National Comorbidity Surveys (NCS
and NCS-R). Measures were research diagnoses of anxiety, depression, alcohol dependence
and cannabis dependence from ages 18 to 32 years. RESULTS: The prevalence of lifetime
disorder to age 32 was approximately doubled in prospective as compared to retrospective
data for all four disorder types. Moreover, across disorders, prospective measurement
yielded a mean past-year-to-lifetime ratio of 38% whereas retrospective measurement
yielded higher mean past-year-to-lifetime ratios of 57% (NZMHS, NCS-R) and 65% (NCS).
CONCLUSIONS: Prospective longitudinal studies complement retrospective surveys by
providing unique information about lifetime prevalence. The experience of at least
one episode of DSM-defined disorder during a lifetime may be far more common in the
population than previously thought. Research should ask what this means for etiological
theory, construct validity of the DSM approach, public perception of stigma, estimates
of the burden of disease and public health policy.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AdolescentAdult
Alcoholism
Anxiety Disorders
Bias (Epidemiology)
Cohort Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depressive Disorder
Female
Health Surveys
Humans
Interview, Psychological
Male
Marijuana Abuse
Mental Disorders
New Zealand
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Panic Disorder
Phobic Disorders
Prospective Studies
Retrospective Studies
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Young Adult
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3976Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1017/S0033291709991036Publication Info
Moffitt, TE; Caspi, A; Taylor, A; Kokaua, J; Milne, BJ; Polanczyk, G; & Poulton, R (2010). How common are common mental disorders? Evidence that lifetime prevalence rates are
doubled by prospective versus retrospective ascertainment. Psychol Med, 40(6). pp. 899-909. 10.1017/S0033291709991036. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/3976.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Avshalom Caspi
Edward M. Arnett Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Caspi’s research is concerned with three questions: (1) How do childhood experiences
shape aging and the course of health inequalities across the life span? (2) How do
genetic differences between people shape the way they respond to their environments?
(3) How do mental health problems unfold across and shape the life course?
Terrie E. Moffitt
Nannerl O. Keohane University Distinguished Professor
Terrie E. Moffitt, Ph.D., is the Nannerl O. Keohane University Professor of Psychology
at Duke University, and Professor of Social Development at King’s College London.
Her expertise is in the areas of longitudinal methods, developmental theory, mental
disorders and antisocial behaviors, neuropsychology, and genomics in behavioral science.
She is currently uncovering the consequences of a lifetime of mental and behavioral
disorder on processes of aging. She is the Associate Director of
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