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The relationship between social vulnerability and the occurrence of severely threatening life events

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Lorna Champion
Lorna Champion*
Affiliation:
MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr L. A. Champion, MRC Child Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Research on the role of life events in the onset of depression has suggested that certain vulnerability factors can increase the risk of disorder in the face of a threatening event. The role of vulnerability factors to increase the likelihood of severs events occurring in the first place has remained largelu unexplored. The vulnerability factor which has received the most attention is a lack of social support, particularly lack of a confiding relationship with a husband for women. A reanalysis of a number of published studies is undertaken; this shows that there is a positive relationship between lack of intimacy and the occurrence of adversity. The implications of this finding are briefly discussed, with emphasis on the need for a life-span developmental perspective in future life events research.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 157 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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