Adversity in groups with an increased risk of minor affective disorder.

The hypothesis that the sociodemographic distribution of minor affective disorder can be explained by high-risk groups experiencing more psychosocial stress, defined in terms of life events and chronic difficulties, was tested. Linear logistic analysis of data from 275 subjects identified in a community psychiatric survey provided little support for this. Although high-risk groups uniformly experienced more psychosocial adversity, and adversity was strongly associated with disorder, this did not provide an adequate explanation for the increased risk of disorder. This must therefore be explained in other ways.