Socioeconomic Status and Depression: The Role of Occupations Involving Direction, Control, and Planning

This article proposes a social causation explanation for the association between SES and depression/distress. The model links SES, occupational direction, control, and planning (DCP), personality factors, and depression/distress in a causal sequence. The data to test the social causation model against alternative, social selection models are derived from samples of psychiatric patients and community residents in Washington Heights, New York City. The key factor of DCP is operationalized using ratings from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The results support the social causation model and cannot be accounted for by several tests derived from social selection models. Thus the results increase the plausibility of the social causation model and suggest the need for further research on the links between occupational conditions and mental disorder.