Abstract

Ralph A. O'Connell M.D. 1 and Julia A. Mayo D.S.W. 2 1 Department of psychiatry at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York, New York Medical College, 144 West 12th Street, New York, New York 10011 2 St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center of New York, New York Medical College A number of researchers, dissatisfied with traditional models of affective illness, have developed multidimensional systems models that more accurately reflect how genetic, biological, and social factors may interact to increase vulnerability or resilience to stressors and illness. The role of five social factors in this process—demographics, early childhood experiences, life events, social support, and families—is reviewed. Serious methodologic difficulties hamper the study of social factors in affective illness, prompting the authors to suggest that researchers develop a new research paradigm that attempts not only to quantify social factors but to understand their meaning to the individual.