Common Mental Disorders and Contemporary Factors: 1982 Birth Cohort

To describe the association between common mental disorders and socio-demographic variables, smoking habits and stressful events among the 30-year-old members of a 1982 cohort.

Mental disorder was analyzed by the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Poisson regression was used to analyze the unadjusted and adjusted associations.

Low level of education and stressful events increased the prevalence of mental disorders for both genders. Lower income for women and unemployment for men also remained associated with CMD.

It was possible to describe the association between contemporary factors and mental disorders in a young population, to which prevention and control measures, through public policies proposed to the areas of Primary Care, Mental Health and Education, can represent a better quality of life and health.