Adversity and depression

The last decade has seen a considerable expansion in our understanding of the nature of social adversities that are implicated in the aetiology of depressive illness. This paper reviews recent developments in the measurement and specification of such adversity, drawing attention to the role of humiliation, entrapment and loss experiences. These refinements in measurement may lead to a better understanding of the processes that lie behind well-recognized variations in the occurrence of depression between genders, cultural groups and at different phases of the adult life-cycle.