Incidence of treated mental illness in three Pennsylvania communities

STUDIES by social scientists have provided data regarding differences in the incidence and prevalence of mental illness among different social and cultural groups.1-8 A current epidemiological study of myocardial infarction in three neighboring communities of different ethnic compositions in Pennsylvania afforded an additional opportunity to see if these communities differed in the incidence of treated mental illness.9'10 Specifically, the present study focuses on the incidence of treated mental illness in Roseto (population 1,630), Bangor (population 5,766) and Nazareth (population 6,209) during the years 1950-1960. Roseto, Pa., is an all Italian-American, lower class community whose inhabitants share a common history and ancestry linking them to Roseto, Valfortore, Italy. Rosetans are ethnically cohesive, generally mutually supporting, and maintain closely knit families.10 Bangorians, who live immediately adjacent to Roseto, are predominately of English, Welsh, and Pennsylvania Dutch descent; however 25 per cent of the population is also Italian. Their community is a typical small, eastern industrial, lower middle class American community which is less cohesive, impersonal, and lacks community involvement.18 Nazareth is about ten miles from Roseto and Bangor and is composed primarily of descendants of Germans who settled there before the American Revolution; some ethnic groups from Eastern and Southern Europe also live in Nazareth. This community has retained many aspects of the German culture and is highly organized and formal."1 These communities are located in Northampton County (population 221,495), which is in eastcentral Pennsylvania in the heart of the Slate Belt.