RT Book, Section
A1 Blazer, Dan G.
A2 Ebert, Michael H.
A2 Leckman, James F.
A2 Petrakis, Ismene L.
SR Print(0)
ID 1158256585
T1 Psychiatric Epidemiology
T2 Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Psychiatry, 3e
YR 2019
FD 2019
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9780071754422
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1158256585
RD 2022/05/24
AB George  Engel  promulgated  a  theoretical  model,  based  on  general  systems  theory,  of  the  etiology  of  mental  disease  that  remains  central  to  epidemiologic  investigations  into  the  twenty-first  century.  Research  demonstrates  that  unitary  explanations  are  not  adequate  to  explain  disease  etiology  or  thus  inform  appropriate  prevention  and  treatment  strategies.  Engel  suggested  an  interrelatedness  among  biological,  psychological,  and  social  factors.  Biological  factors  include  hereditary,  anatomic,  and  molecular  factors  and  those  factors  related  to  gender,  age,  and  ethnicity.  Psychological  factors  include  temperament,  personality,  motivation,  emotion,  attention,  and  cognition.  According  to  Engel's  theory,  social  factors  included  family,  society,  culture,  and  environment;  other  authors  would  include  religious  and  spiritual  as  well  as  economic  factors  in  this  group.  This  model  pervades  epidemiology,  yet  recent  efforts  focus  on  not  simply  integrating  the  different  elements  but  rather  moving  toward  a  transdisciplinary  approach  that  breaks  down  traditional  disciplinary  barriers.  From  this  perspective,  psychiatric  epidemiologists  explore  the  frequency,  distribution,  outcome,  and  causation  of  psychiatric  disorders.