Psychosocial Stressors and Major Depression, Schizophrenia, and Schizophreniform Disorder

This study explored the relationship between the severity and types of psychosocial stressors and three major mental disorders. The data were derived from the field trials of the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), in which over 12,000 patients from all over the country were evaluated by over 500 clinicians. Two hundred forty-seven patients with Major Depression and 247 with Schizophrenia were randomly selected for this study, along with all 112 patients given the diagnosis of Schizophreniform Disorder, a disorder similar to Schizophrenia except for its brief duration. The number of psychosocial stressors recorded by the evaluating clinician for each subject was examined, and each stressor was classified according to whether it represented an entrance into or exit from the social field of the subject, whether or not it was desirable, whether or not its occurrence had been under the control of the subject, the number of Life Change Units it entailed, and what area of the subject's life is affected. These variables were then compared across diagnostic groups, for individuals with and without associat