Psychiatric Epidemiology Searching for the Causes of Mental Disorders

by Susser, Ezra; Schwartz, Sharon; Morabia, Alfredo; Bromet, Evelyn J.; Begg, Melissa D.; Gorman, Jack M.; King, Mary-Claire

• ISBN13: 9780195101812
• ISBN10: 0195101812
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Searching for the causes of mental disorders is as exciting as it it complex. The relationship between pathophysiology and its overt manifestations is exceedingly intricate, and often the causes of a disorder are elusive at best. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone trying to trackthese causes, whether they be clinical researchers, public health practitioners, or psychiatric epidemiologists-in-training. Uniting theory and practice in very clear language, it makes a wonderful contribution to both epidemiologic and psychiatric research. Rather than attempting to review thedescriptive epidemiology of mental disorders, this book gives much more dynamic exposition of the thinking and techniques used to establish it.Starting out by tracing the brief history of psychiatric epidemiology, the book describes the study of risk factors as causes of mental disorders. Subsequent sections discuss approaches to investigation of biologic, genetic, or social causes and the statistical analysis of study results. The bookconcludes by following some of the problems involved in the search for genetic causes of mental disorders, and more complex casual relationships.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Professor Sir Michael Rutter
Contributors	xxi
Part I Psychiatric Epidemiology, Then and Now
The Burden of Mental Illness	5	(10)
The Arc of Epidemiology	15	(10)
Searching for the Causes of Mental Disorders	25	(8)
Part II Risk Factors as Causes of Mental Disorders
What Is a Cause?	33	(10)
Detecting Causes	43	(10)
Study Designs	53	(9)
Relationships among Causes	62	(13)
Measures of Association	75	(16)
Part III Cohort Designs in Psychiatric Epidemiology
Prototypical Cohort Study	91	(17)
Diversity of Cohort Studies	108	(21)
Causal Inference: A Thought Experiment	129	(9)
Confounding: What It Is and What Can Be Done	138	(13)
Unequal Attrition under Different Types of Follow-Up	151	(17)
Differential Misclassification	168	(13)
Part IV Case-Control Designs in Psychiatric Epidemiology
Logic of the Case-Control Design	181	(11)
Applications of the Case-Control Study	192	(11)
Choosing Controls	203	(9)
Comparability and the Case-Control Study	212	(17)
Part V Case-Control Designs in Biologic Psychiatry
Jack M. Gorman
Biologic Studies in Psychiatry	229	(7)
Choosing Cases in Biologic Psychiatry	236	(11)
Choosing Controls in Biologic Psychiatry	247	(16)
Part VI Analyzing the Data
Melissa D. Begy
Gauging the Precision of Measures of Association	263	(9)
Using Significance Tests in Establishing Associations	272	(12)
Planning Studies: Estimating Power and Sample Size	284	(8)
Adjustment for Covariates	292	(16)
Event Time Analysis	308	(11)
Assessing Heterogeneity of Effects	319	(12)
Part VII The Search for Genetic Causes of Mental Disorders
Mary-Claire King
Integrating Epidemiology with Genetics	331	(10)
Genetic Association Studies	341	(20)
Modern Family History Studies	361	(14)
Twin Studies of Heritability	375	(14)
Genetic Linkage Studies	389	(12)
Designs for the Genomic Era	401	(14)
Part VIII Complex Causal Relationships
Eco-Epidemiology	415	(7)
Causal Explanation within a Risk Factor Framework	422	(19)
Causal Explanation Outside the Black Box	441	(20)
Dependent and Dynamic Processes	461	(8)
Appendix A. Our Approach to Epidemiologic Concepts and Methods	469	(9)
Appendix B. Application of Survival Analysis to Prenatal Determinants of Schizophrenia Example (PDSE) Data	478	(3)
Glossary	481	(12)
Index	493