K. Suhail et R. Cochrane, SEASONAL-CHANGES IN AFFECTIVE STATE IN SAMPLES OF ASIAN AND WHITE WOMEN, Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 32(3), 1997, pp. 149-157
Seasonality of the affective state has been reported to vary in direct
proportion to latitude in temperate regions. The frequency of seasona
l affective disorder (SAD) and the severity of the symptoms associated
with it have been reported to be greater in higher than in lower lati
tudes. In addition, recent research has suggested a genetic loading fo
r SAD. Most of the research on the seasonality of affect has been done
in high latitude areas, seasonal mood cycles have been infrequently i
nvestigated in tropical areas, and no study has so far measured and co
mpared seasonal changes in affect and behaviour in indigenous and popu
lations non-indigenous to high latitudes. To rule out the biases assoc
iated with retrospective designs, a prospective longitudinal study was
designed to investigate seasonal mood variations in indigenous white
and non-indigenous Asian populations. Since previous research has indi
cated the excessive vulnerability of women to winter depression, it wa
s decided to measure seasonality of the affective state only in women.
To examine the relative effects of genetic predispositions and physic
al environment, the Asian group was further divided into ''Asian'' and
''Asian-British''. The former group comprised women who were living i
n England but who had been born and had spent considerably more time i
n their country of origin, while the latter group consisted of women w
ho were born in England and who had lived there all their lives. The t
hree groups of 25 women each were matched for age and socio-economic s
tatus, and were interviewed every month for 1 year using the Hospital
Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), a Behavioural Change Inventory (BC
I), the Ladder Scale of General Well-being (LSW) and a Monthly Stress
Inventory (MSI). One retrospective scale was administered at the end o
f the study year to compare the extent of seasonal change in affect wi
th that on the HAD-depression subscale. The results showed that season
al depression peaked in winter in all three groups, with the incidence
of winter depression being highest in the Asian group. Seasonal chang
es on several dimensions of behaviour were in the direction of winter
depression for all three groups. States other than depression (anxiety
and general well-being) did not show any seasonal variation. Hours of
daylight was found to be the best predictor of seasonal variation in
mood among environmental and psychosocial variables. There was no evid
ence to support a genetic hypothesis for SAD.