Descriptions of affective disorders among Jews date back to biblical times. For
over a century the psychiatric literature has debated whether Jews are more
vulnerable to affective disorders. To ascertain the validity of this finding we
undertook a meta-analysis of data extracted from the literature published to
date. Forty-three studies were identified that could be analysed statistically using
Cohen's d and a Mantel-Haenszel summary odds ratio. An increased, but
weak overall risk was found for males. Possible biases of the literature are
discussed, including differential help-seeking patterns, lack of accounting for
readmission rates, failure to control for confounding variables, and an anti-
Semitic orientation on the part of researchers. Reasons for why Jews have higher
rates of affective disorders than non-Jews are explored.
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