Affective disorders among Jews: a historical review and meta-analysis.
Descriptions of affective disorders among Jews date back to biblical times. For over a century the psychiatric literature has debated whether Jews are more vulnerable to affective disorders. To ascertain the validity of this finding we undertook a meta-analysis of data extracted from the literature published to date. Forty-three studies were identified that could be analysed statistically using Cohen's d and a Mantel-Haenszel summary odds ratio. An increased, but weak overall risk was found for males. Possible biases of the literature are discussed, including differential help-seeking patterns, lack of accounting for readmission rates, failure to control for confounding variables, and an anti-Semetic orientation on the part of researchers. Reasons for why Jews have higher rates of affective disorders than non-Jews are explored.
Kohn
R
R
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University and Butler Hospital, Providence, RI.
Levav
I
I
Zolondek
S
S
Richter
M
M
D005060:Europe; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000266:history*; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States