title: Birth month and depressive and suicidal symptoms in an elderly Australian sample born in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere.
abstract: We examined the relationship between season of birth and depressive and suicidal symptoms among 859 elderly outpatients. Date and country of birth were recorded for each participant. Those in utero during the Northern or Southern Hemisphere flu peak were expected to show the highest depressive and suicidal symptoms. Hypotheses were partially supported.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors.forename: Jon J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pfaff
authors.forename: Rebecca A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bernert
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hollar
authors.forename: Tracy K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Witte
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.forename: Jeremy W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pettit
authors.forename: Osvaldo P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Joiner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D036801:Parturition; D012621:Seasons; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019371:Topography, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data