Life events and social network in relation to the onset of depression. A controlled study.

In this article we present the results of a study on the role of life events and social network in the onset of depression. We compared 24 new outpatients with major depression or a dysthymic disorder with 24 healthy matched controls. The patient group was interviewed about the year before the onset of depression; the control group about the year preceding the interview. The results show a significant difference between the 2 groups in occurrence of life events and quality of social network.