Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects

Evidence showing a relationship between season of birth and adult well-being is long-standing, but is now largely overlooked or dismissed. In light of increasingly compelling evidence for the effects of in-utero conditions on adult health, however, it is instructive to revisit the relationship, with...

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Main Author: Jason Schnittker
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2018-04-01
Series:SSM: Population Health
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827317302471
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spelling doaj-46f7827afcc7430f9838030a92f200192020-11-25T00:02:52ZengElsevierSSM: Population Health2352-82732018-04-014307316Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effectsJason Schnittker0University of Pennsylvania, Department of Sociology, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6299, USAEvidence showing a relationship between season of birth and adult well-being is long-standing, but is now largely overlooked or dismissed. In light of increasingly compelling evidence for the effects of in-utero conditions on adult health, however, it is instructive to revisit the relationship, with an eye toward resolving the reasons for skepticism. This study uses data from the first National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey to examine the effects of month of birth on adult depression. The data correspond to an important time in history and the analysis points to one reason why enthusiasm for birth seasonality in depression has faded: although there was a strong relationship between month of birth and depression in the early 20th century, with spring and summer month births corresponding to significantly more depression, the relationship was largely eliminated by the 1940 birth cohort. Few adults alive today would be subject to this effect, but when it was apparent it was enormously consequential. Population attributable risk scenarios indicate that among those born between 1900 and 1920 the prevalence of major depression would have been reduced by approximately 22% if all births had been confined to November through March. The percent rises to 26% among those born between 1900 and 1910, and was likely even higher in earlier cohorts. Additional analyses point to the importance of nutritional deficits in explaining these effects. In the early 20th century, the relationship between month of birth and depression was weaker in circumstances where the food supply was less seasonally sensitive. For this reason, the turn-of-the-century relationship between month of birth and depression was much weaker among the well-educated, in Southern states, and in urban areas. Although birth seasonality in depression can be regarded as a historical artefact of diet and nutrition, evidence for its prior existence nonetheless speaks to the significance of other in-utero effects, both past and present.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827317302471
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Jason Schnittker
spellingShingle Jason Schnittker
Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
SSM: Population Health
author_facet Jason Schnittker
author_sort Jason Schnittker
title Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
title_short Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
title_full Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
title_fullStr Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
title_full_unstemmed Season of birth and depression in adulthood: Revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
title_sort season of birth and depression in adulthood: revisiting historical forerunner evidence for in-utero effects
publisher Elsevier
series SSM: Population Health
issn 2352-8273
publishDate 2018-04-01
description Evidence showing a relationship between season of birth and adult well-being is long-standing, but is now largely overlooked or dismissed. In light of increasingly compelling evidence for the effects of in-utero conditions on adult health, however, it is instructive to revisit the relationship, with an eye toward resolving the reasons for skepticism. This study uses data from the first National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey to examine the effects of month of birth on adult depression. The data correspond to an important time in history and the analysis points to one reason why enthusiasm for birth seasonality in depression has faded: although there was a strong relationship between month of birth and depression in the early 20th century, with spring and summer month births corresponding to significantly more depression, the relationship was largely eliminated by the 1940 birth cohort. Few adults alive today would be subject to this effect, but when it was apparent it was enormously consequential. Population attributable risk scenarios indicate that among those born between 1900 and 1920 the prevalence of major depression would have been reduced by approximately 22% if all births had been confined to November through March. The percent rises to 26% among those born between 1900 and 1910, and was likely even higher in earlier cohorts. Additional analyses point to the importance of nutritional deficits in explaining these effects. In the early 20th century, the relationship between month of birth and depression was weaker in circumstances where the food supply was less seasonally sensitive. For this reason, the turn-of-the-century relationship between month of birth and depression was much weaker among the well-educated, in Southern states, and in urban areas. Although birth seasonality in depression can be regarded as a historical artefact of diet and nutrition, evidence for its prior existence nonetheless speaks to the significance of other in-utero effects, both past and present.
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827317302471
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