
Enduring Mental Health: Prevalence and Prediction - aw1621107
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5304549/
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aw1621107
Abstract:

> We review epidemiological evidence indicating that most people will develop
> a diagnosable mental disorder, suggesting that only a minority experience
> enduring mental health. This minority has received little empirical study,
> leaving the prevalence and predictors of enduring mental health unknown. We
> turn to the population-representative Dunedin cohort, followed from birth to
> midlife, to compare people never-diagnosed with mental disorder (N = 171;
> 17% prevalence) to those diagnosed at 1–2 study waves, the cohort mode (N =
> 409). Surprisingly, compared to this modal group, never-diagnosed Study
> members were not born into unusually well-to-do families, nor did their
> enduring mental health follow markedly sound physical health, or unusually
> high intelligence. Instead, they tended to have an advantageous
> temperament/personality style, and negligible family history of mental
> disorder. As adults, they report superior educational and occupational
> attainment, greater life satisfaction, and higher-quality relationships. Our
> findings draw attention to “enduring mental health” as a revealing
> psychological phenotype and suggest it deserves further study.

