Prevalence rates for the neuroses: Pitfalls in the evaluation of familiality

Gregory Carey, Irving I. Gottesman, Eli Robins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

SYNOPSIS A survey was made of studies reporting population prevalence rates for the different types of neurotic disorders in order to determine the utility of these rates for familial and genetic research. Rates varied considerably among studies both for all neuroses and for particular types of neuroses, even among studies using similar methods examining similar populations. The method of case ascertainment (personal interview versus record searches) and the threshold for defining an individual as affected are important contributors to variation. The use of the published prevalence rates for quantifying familial and genetic effects on the neurotic disorders would be premature.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)437-443
Number of pages7
JournalPsychological medicine
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1980

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by Mental Health Training Grants MH-14647 and MH-14677 from the United States National Institute of Mental Health.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Prevalence rates for the neuroses: Pitfalls in the evaluation of familiality'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this