Skip to main content
Log in

Season of birth in siblings of patients with seasonal affective disorder

A test of the parental conception habits hypothesis

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recently we have published a report on seasonally varying birth rates in 553 patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The present study is aimed to test the hypothesis of an idiosyncratic seasonal conception pattern of the parents of these patients to explain this phenomenon. We conducted a telephone interview with the patients to obtain information on the birth data of their siblings. Using the method of chart review to acquire information on the family history of our patients, we excluded those siblings with psychiatric disorders. We first compared the birth months and the quarters of birth of 435 healthy siblings with the general population. Secondly, we compared the birth distribution of the index SAD patients with that of their siblings. There was a significant deviation between the birth distribution of the siblings and the general population calculated on a monthly basis (p = 0.044). When comparing quarters we found less births than expected in the first (−14.1%) and fourth quarter of the year (−15.1%) and an excess of births in the second (+7.7%) and third quarter (+21.1%; p = 0.018). There were no significant differences between the group of SAD patients and their siblings regarding their birth patterns as calculated by months (p = 0.848) or quarters (p = 0.320). Our study provides support for the hypothesis of specific parental conception habits underlying the birth seasonality in SAD. Further research could be conducted in non-seasonal depression as there is still a lack of studies on seasonality of birth in affective disorders.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder, 4th edn. American Psychiatric Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bark NM, Krivelevich I (1996) Heatwaves during pregnancy as a risk factor for schizophrenia (letter). Schizophr Res 18:105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bleuler M (1991) Seasonality of birth of future schizophrenics and seasonality of depressive episodes. Schizophr Bull 17:191–192

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Brown AS, Susser ES (2002) In utero infection and adult schizophrenia. Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 8:51–57

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Buck C, Simpson H (1978) Season of birth among the sibs of schizophrenics. Br J Psychiatry 133:358–360

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Castrogiovanni P, Iapichino S, Pacchierotti C, Peiraccini F (1998) Season of birth in psychiatry: A review. Neuropsychobiology 37:175–181

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, New York

    Google Scholar 

  8. Davies G, Welham J, Chant D, Torrey EF, McGrath J (2003) A systematic review and meta-analysis of Northern Hemisphere season of birth studies in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 29:587–593

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Davis C, Levitan RD (2005) Seasonality and seasonal affective disorder (SAD): an evolutionary viewpoint tied to energy conservation and reproductive cycles. J Affect Disord 87:3–10

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Eagles JM (2004) Seasonal affective disorder: a vestigial evolutionary advantage? Med Hypotheses 63:767–772

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Erdfelder E, Faul F, Buchner A (1996) GPower: a general power analysis program. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput 28:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  12. Haefner H, Haas S, Pfeifer Kurda M, Eichhorn S, Michitsuji S (1987) Abnormal seasonality of schizophrenic births A specific finding? Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 236:333–342

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hare EH (1976) The season of birth of siblings of psychiatric patients. Br J Psychiatry 129:49–54

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Hare EH, Price JS, Slater E (1973) Mental disorder and season of birth. Nature 241:480

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Husted J, Greenwood CM, Bassett AS (2006) Heritability of schizophrenia and major affective disorder as a function of age, in the presence of strong cohort effects. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 256:222–229

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Jang KL, Lam RW, Livesley WJ, Vernon PA (1997) Gender differences in the heritability of seasonal mood change. Psychiatry Res 70:145–154

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Kasper S, Rogers LBS, Yancey A, Schulz PM, Skwerer RG, Rosenthal NE (1989) Phototherapy in individuals with and without subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 46:837–844

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Larson CA, Nyman GE (1976) Birth month of schizophrenics and their sibs. IRCS medical science: anatomy and human biology; psychology and psychiatry. Soc Occup Med 4:56

    Google Scholar 

  19. Len T (1997) Retrospective power analysis. Conserv Biol 11:276–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Levitan RD, Masellis M, Lam RW, Kaplan AS, Davis C, Tharmalingam S, Mackenzie B, Basile VS, Kennedy JL (2006) A birth-season/DRD4 gene interaction predicts weight gain and obesity in women with seasonal affective disorder: a seasonal thrifty phenotype hypothesis. Neuropsychopharmacology 31:2498–2503

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Lummaa V (2003) Early developmental conditions and reproductive success in humans: downstream effects of prenatal famine, birthweight, and timing of birth. Am J Hum Biol 15:370–379

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Madden PA, Heath AC, Rosenthal NE, Martin NG (1996) Seasonal changes in mood and behavior. The role of genetic factors. Arch Gen Psychiatry 53:47–55

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. McGrath JJ, Welham JL (1999) Season of birth and schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from the Southern Hemisphere. Schizophr Res 35:237–242

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. McNeil T, Kaij L, Dzierzykray-Rogalska M (1976) Season of birth among siblings of schizophrenics. A test of the parental conception habits interpretation. Acta Psychiatr Scand 54:267–274

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. O’Callaghan E, Sham PC, Takei N, Murray G, Glover G, Hare EH, Murray RM (1994) The relationship of schizophrenic births to 16 infectious diseases. Br J Psychiatry 165:353–356

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Pjrek E, Winkler D, Heiden A, Praschak-Rieder N, Willeit M, Konstantinidis A, Stastny J, Kasper S (2004) Seasonality of birth in seasonal affective disorder. J Clin Psychiatry 65:1389–1393

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Pulver AE, Liang KY, Wolyniec PS, McGrath J, Melton BA, Adler L, Childs B (1992) Season of birth of siblings of schizophrenic patients. Br J Psychiatry 160:71–75

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Rock D, Greenberg D, Hallmayer J (2006) Season-of-birth as a risk factor for the seasonality of suicidal behaviour. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 256:98–105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. SPSS Inc. (1989–2001) SPSS for Windows. Chicago, IL, USA

  30. Sher L (2000) The role of genetic factors in the etiology of seasonality and seasonal affective disorder: an evolutionary approach. Med Hypotheses 54:704–707

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Sher L (2001) Genetic studies of seasonal affective disorder and seasonality. Compr Psychiatry 42:105–110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Suvisaari JM, Haukka JK, Lonnqvist JK (2001) Season of birth among patients with schizophrenia and their siblings: evidence for the procreational habits hypothesis. Am J Psychiatry 158:754–757

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Tochigi M, Okazaki Y, Kato N, Sasaki T (2004) What causes seasonality of birth in schizophrenia? Neurosci Res 48:1–11

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Torrey EF (1989) The epidemiology of schizophrenia: questions needing answers. In: Schulz SC, Tamminga CA (eds) Schizophrenia: scientific progress, Oxford University Press, New York, pp 45–51

    Google Scholar 

  35. Torrey EF, Miller J, Rawlings R, Yolken RH (1997) Seasonality of births in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a review of the literature. Schizophrenia Res 28:1–38

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Torrey EF, Miller J, Rawlings R, Yolken RH (2000) Seasonal birth patterns of neurological disorders. Neuroepidemiology 19:177–185

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Torrey EF, Rawlings R, Waldman IN (1988) Schizophrenic births and viral diseases in two states. Schizophr Res 1:73–77

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Tramer M (1929) Über die biologische Bedeutung des Geburtsmonates, insbesondere für die Psychoseerkrankung. Schweiz Arch Neurol Psychiatr 24:17–24

    Google Scholar 

  39. Watson CG, Kucala T, Tilleskjor C, Jacobs L (1984) Schizophrenic birth seasonality in relation to the incidence of infectious diseases and temperature extremes. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:85–90

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Winkler D, Willeit M, Praschak-Rieder N, Lucht MJ, Hilger E, Konstantinidis A, Stastny J, Thierry N, Pjrek E, Neumeister A, Moller HJ, Kasper S (2002) Changes of clinical pattern in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) over time in a German-speaking sample. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 252:54–62

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Statistik Austria (http://www.statistik.gv.at) for providing us with birth data of the Viennese population. The authors also thank Ingrid Winkler for her help in preparing this manuscript. This study was supported in part by the Federal Bank of Austria (Research Grant No. 9085).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Edda Pjrek MD.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pjrek, E., Winkler, D., Praschak-Rieder, N. et al. Season of birth in siblings of patients with seasonal affective disorder. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosc 257, 378–382 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-007-0720-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-007-0720-8

Keywords

Navigation