Risk factors for depression.

The role of social factors in the causation of depression based on the aetiological model proposed by Brown and Harris was examined in a sample of 50 depressed female patients. Loss of mother before age 11 years and lack of confiding relationship was found to act as a vulnerability factor whereas employment status and having three or more children aged 14 or under were not found to have an increased vulnerability in these patients. These results which provide general support for Brown and Harris's causal model are discussed with their possible implications in our socio-cultural settings.