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Alexander H Leighton

Publications and source records attributed to Alexander H Leighton.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Cigarette smoking in relation to depression: historical trends from the Stirling County Study.

OBJECTIVE: Building on findings about the prevalence and incidence of depression over a 40-year period, the authors provide data on trends in cigarette smoking and associations with depression. METHOD: Data come from interviews with adult population samples (1952, 1970, and 1992) and followed cohorts (1952-1970 and 1970-1992). Logistic regression models and survival regressions were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The associations between smoking and depression were small and nonsignificant in 1952 and 1970. In 1992, however, the odds that a smoker would be depressed were three times the odds that a nonsmoker would be depressed. The interaction between smoking and study year was significant, indicating that the association was limited to the most recent sample. In the cohort analysis, smoking at baseline did not predict the onset of depression, but subjects who became depressed were more likely to start or continue smoking and less likely to quit than those who never had a depression. CONCLUSIONS: In terms of population trends, the association between depression and cigarette smoking became prominent as the use of tobacco declined because of awareness of the risks involved. The findings about individuals followed over time suggest that those who became depressed were more involved with nicotine than those who never had a depression. The authors discuss hypotheses involving "self-medication," risk-taking, and changes in the social climate but conclude that the relationships between smoking and depression are probably multiple and complex.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Incidence of major depression: prediction from subthreshold categories in the Stirling County Study.

BACKGROUND: Validity of the newly-proposed categories of Minor Depression (MinD) and Subsyndromal Depression (SSD) would be strengthened if they were found to be related to the incidence of Major Depressive Episode (MDE). In this report, the subsequent incidence of MDE was assessed in terms of baseline evidence about the two subthreshold categories and Dysthymic Disorder (DysD). METHODS: The Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used to interview 489 subjects twice between 1991 and 1995 as part of the Stirling County Study. Life table methods were used to calculate incidence rates and log linear analysis was employed for statistical assessment. RESULTS: The average annual incidence of MDE was 10 per 1000. The rates associated with the baseline categories were 210 per 1000 for DysD, 21 for MinD; 13 for SSD; and four for the remainder of subjects who constituted the reference group. Only the incidence related to DysD was significantly higher than that for the reference group. Comparing Time 1 and Time 2, one-third of the subjects gained or lost symptoms and the comorbidity of MDE and DysD increased. LIMITATIONS: The study population was, on average, 63 years of age. Older age and the small size of the cohort may have influenced the findings. Another limitation may relate to the use of lifetime rather than current symptomatology. CONCLUSIONS: DysD is strongly associated with MDE suggesting that the chronic and episodic forms of unipolar depression constitute one disorder. The other subthreshold categories should be further investigated in terms of prodromal qualities. The persistence of dysphoria, as in DysD, may be a more important feature of the depression prodrome than the number of symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Self-disparagement as feature and forerunner of depression: findings from the Stirling County Study.

Sleep disturbance has attracted considerable attention as an early indicator of depression. However, three epidemiologic investigations have shown psychological symptoms, such as self-disparagement, to be stronger predictors. This report examines the depressive symptoms commonly assessed in modern epidemiologic surveys and estimates the generalizability of this information using data from the Stirling County Study, a long-term epidemiologic investigation of psychiatric disorders. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) was used to gather information about depression, defined as major depressive episode (MDE) and/or dysthymic disorder (DysD). A sample of 1,396 adults representing Stirling County in 1992 served to assess the prevalence of the different types of depressive symptoms and to investigate the associations between symptoms and lifetime diagnoses of MDE/DysD. A cohort of 489 follow-up subjects who were interviewed twice in the early part of the 1990s was used to examine the associations between baseline symptoms and subsequent incidence of MDE/DysD. Both "symptom groups" (such as appetite or psychomotor disturbances) and "individual symptoms" (such as weight gain or restlessness) were investigated. About one third of the representative sample had experienced the diagnostically required symptoms of "sadness" or "loss of pleasure," but many lacked sufficient other symptomatology to be diagnosed as depressed. Several of the symptom groups bore a different relationship to diagnosis than did the individual symptoms. Among the latter, "feeling worthless" and "having trouble concentrating" exhibited the strongest associations to diagnosis in the representative sample. The symptoms of "wanting to die" and "feeling worthless" were the most predictive of future depression in the twice-interviewed cohort. Thus, this study supports evidence from other epidemiologic studies that psychological symptoms are important in the prodromal phase of depression. Sleep disturbance, especially insomnia, cannot be ignored since it is a prominent manifestation of depression but it appears not to have as high specificity as some of the other symptoms. An exclusive focus on the symptom groups, as used to count symptoms according to diagnostic criteria, may obscure useful information about associations between individual symptoms and diagnosis. Feelings of personal inadequacy deserve particular attention in the population at large because they are strongly associated with lifetime diagnoses and forecast the incidence of depression when people are followed over time.

Adult↗