Adaptive and non-adaptive models of depression: A comparison using register data on antidepressant medication during divorce.

ABSTRACT: Divorce is associated with an increased probability of a depressive episode, but the causation of events remains unclear. Adaptive models of depression propose that depression is a social strategy in part, whereas non-adaptive models tend to propose a diathesis-stress mechanism. We compare an adaptive evolutionary model of depression to three alternative non-adaptive models with respect to their ability to explain the temporal pattern of depression around the time of divorce. Register-based data (304,112 individuals drawn from a random sample of 11% of Finnish people) on antidepressant purchases is used as a proxy for depression. This proxy affords an unprecedented temporal resolution (a 3-monthly prevalence estimates over 10 years) without any bias from non-compliance, and it can be linke

SUBMITTER: Rosenstrom T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5470737 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature