Towards an understanding of mental disorders in urban areas
type: CreativeWork
description: The prevailing aetiological paradigm for schizophrenia and other psychotic syndromes suggests these disorders are a characteristic of the human condition and ubiquitous with respect to the environment. This is based on an erroneous belief that the incidence of schizophrenia does not vary geographically. Since the seminal work of Faris and Dunham (1939), the increased risk of schizophrenia associated with urbanicity has presented one of the most frequently replicated findings within psychiatric epidemiology. Despite the exclusion of several potential confounders, few specific socioenvironmental risk factors, which presumably underpin the 'urbanicity' effect, have yet to be identified. Findings for the affective psychoses are contradictory. Ethnic minority status also increases the risk of psychoses, independent of 'urbanicity', suggesting risk factors associated with migration or post-migratory experiences are also aetiologically relevant. It is unclear whether this risk is independent of socioeconomic status or interacts with generation status or neighbourhood-level risk factors. Using two large, first episode UK datasets I tested whether the incidence of psychoses varied between and within urban areas. I investigated heterogeneity in the incidence of psychoses by age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place. I hypothesised that neighbourhood-level socioenvironmental risk factors, including social capital, ethnic density, ethnic fragmentation and deprivation were associated with the incidence of psychoses; perhaps interacting with individual-level risk factors, such as ethnicity. Considerable variation in the non-affective psychoses was demonstrated between and within urban areas. This variation was independent of age, sex and ethnicity. Approximately one quarter of this variation was attributable to neighbourhood-level risk factors, including social capital, ethnic density and ethnic fragmentation, independent of socioeconomic deprivation. No evidence of var…
abstract: The prevailing aetiological paradigm for schizophrenia and other psychotic syndromes suggests these disorders are a characteristic of the human condition and ubiquitous with respect to the environment. This is based on an erroneous belief that the incidence of schizophrenia does not vary geographically. Since the seminal work of Faris and Dunham (1939), the increased risk of schizophrenia associated with urbanicity has presented one of the most frequently replicated findings within psychiatric epidemiology. Despite the exclusion of several potential confounders, few specific socioenvironmental risk factors, which presumably underpin the 'urbanicity' effect, have yet to be identified. Findings for the affective psychoses are contradictory. Ethnic minority status also increases the risk of psychoses, independent of 'urbanicity', suggesting risk factors associated with migration or post-migratory experiences are also aetiologically relevant. It is unclear whether this risk is independent of socioeconomic status or interacts with generation status or neighbourhood-level risk factors. Using two large, first episode UK datasets I tested whether the incidence of psychoses varied between and within urban areas. I investigated heterogeneity in the incidence of psychoses by age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and place. I hypothesised that neighbourhood-level socioenvironmental risk factors, including social capital, ethnic density, ethnic fragmentation and deprivation were associated with the incidence of psychoses; perhaps interacting with individual-level risk factors, such as ethnicity. Considerable variation in the non-affective psychoses was demonstrated between and within urban areas. This variation was independent of age, sex and ethnicity. Approximately one quarter of this variation was attributable to neighbourhood-level risk factors, including social capital, ethnic density and ethnic fragmentation, independent of socioeconomic deprivation. No evidence of var…
author: Kirkbride, James Bowes
language: eng
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/f57ae638-6dc0-4243-9ad8-c17feb37c871/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2007-04-24
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:03Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.11662