Center for Global Health Faculty

Professor

Sylvia and Harold Halpert Professor and Chair

Academic Degrees

• PhD

Departmental Affiliation

• Name:

  Mental Health

  Affiliation Type:

  Primary

  Division:

  Joint appointments: Health Policy and Management; Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine; Sociology, School of Arts and Sciences

Departmental Address

Contact Information

Email:

weaton+jhsph.edu

Phone:

410 955 3908

Fax:

410 955 9088

Link:

SciVal Experts Research Profile

Research and Professional Experience

The research interests have two parallel elements. First, I use the epidemiologic framework to explain the risk factors, natural history, and consequences of major mental disorders. Second, I take the sociologic approach to understand the occurrence of the subset of bizarre behaviors that generally are labeled as psychiatric disorders. In the area of psychiatric epidemiology, I have conducted research on the incidence and natural history of schizophrenia using data from psychiatric case registers in several locations around the world. At the current time research focuses on the relationship of autoimmune diseases to risk for autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. I have investigated common mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder and the anxiety disorders, in the context of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Followup, a twenty year cohort study. A somewhat surprising finding from that study was the degree to which major depressive disorder was predictive of the new occurrence of important physical conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer. The current phase of the ECA project is a collaboration with four ECA sites linking data on mental disorders to the National Death Index, in the largest population-based study of this topic in the United States to date.

Keywords

"Mental Health", psychiatric epidemiology, sociology, depression, schizophrenia, natural history, Behavior and Health

Honors and Awards

ADAMHA Administrator's Award for Meritorious Performance, "for implementing the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program," 1980

Eli Robins Memorial Lecture, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University-St. Louis, 1998

Rema Lapouse Award, American Public Health Association, 2000

Erik Stromgren Award, 2005

Selected Publications

Eaton, William W., editor (2006) Medical and Psychiatric Comorbidity Over the Course of Life, Washington, D.C., APPI Press,

Eaton, W. W. (2001). The Sociology of Mental Disorders. Third Edition. New York: Greenwood.

Eaton, W. W., & Kessler, L. G., Editors. (1985). Epidemiologic Field Methods in Psychiatry: The NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. Orlando: Academic Press, Inc.

Eaton, W.W., Pedersen, M.G., Atladottir, H.O, Gregory, P.E., Rose, N.R., Mortensen, P.B. (2010). The prevalence of 30 ICD-10 autoimmune diseases in Denmark, Immunologic Research 47(103):228-31.

Eaton, William W., Huibo Shao, Huibo, Nestadt, Gerald, Lee, Ben Hochang, Bienvenu, O. Joseph, Zandi, Peter (2008)  Population-based study of First Onset and Chronicity in Major Depressive Disorder, Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 513-520.

Eaton W, Byrne M, Ewald H, Mors O, Chen C-Y, Agerbo E, Mortensen PB (2006) Epidemiologic study of the association of schizophrenia and autoimmune diseases through linkage of Danish national registers, American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 521-528.

Eaton, William; Mortensen, Preben Bo; Agerbo, Esben; Byrne, Majella; Mors, Ole; Ewald, Henrik (2004) Coeliac disease and schizophrenia: population based case control study with linkage of Danish national registers, British Medical Journal, 328, 438-439.

Eaton, WW. (2002) The logic for a national conception-to-death cohort study, Annals of Epidemiology, 12, 445-451.

Eaton, W.W., Harrison, G. (2001) Life chances, life planning, and schizophrenia: a review and interpretation of research on social deprivation, International Journal of Mental Health, 30, 58-81.

Eaton, WW, Mortensen, PB, Frydenberg, M. (2000). Obstetric factors, urbanization, and psychosis, Schizophrenia Research. 43, 117-123.

Eaton, WW. Neufeld K. Chen L. Cai G. (2000). A Comparison of self-report and clinical diagnostic interviews for depression: DIS and SCAN in the Baltimore ECA Followup, Archives of General Psychiatry. 57, 217-222.

Eaton, W.W., Anthony, J.C., Gallo, J., Cai, G., Tien, A., Romanoski, A., Lyketsos, C., Chen, L. (1997) Natural history of DIS/DSM major depression: the Baltimore ECA Followup, Archives of General Psychiatry, 54: 993-999.

Pratt, L, Ford, DE, Crum, RM, Armenian, HK, Gallo, JJ, Eaton, WW. (1996) Depression, psychotropic medication, and risk of myocardial infarction: prospective data from the Baltimore ECA Followup. Circulation, 94:3123-3129,1996

Eaton, W. W., Bilker, W., Haro, J. M., Herrman, H., Mortensen, P. B., Freeman, H., & Burgess, P. (1992). The Long-Term course of hospitalization for schizophrenia: Change in rate of hospitalization with passage of time. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 18, 185-207.

Eaton, W. W., Anthony, J. C., Mandell, W. M., & Garrison, R. A. (1990). Occupations and the prevalence of major depressive disorder. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 32, 1079-1087.

Eaton, W. W., Dryman, A., Sorenson, A., & McCutcheon, A. (1989). DSM-III major depressive disorder in the community: a latent class analysis of data from the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. British Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 48-54.

Eaton, W. W., Kramer, M., Anthony, J. C., Dryman, A., Shapiro, S., & Locke, B. Z. (1989). The incidence of specific DIS/DSM-III Mental Disorders: data from the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 79, 163-178.

Eaton, W. W. (1985). The epidemiology of schizophrenia. Epidemiologic Reviews, 7, 105-126.

Eaton, W. W. (1974). Mental hospitalization as a reinforcement process. American Sociological Review, 39, 252-260. 

Research Projects
 - Mental Disorders and Mortality
 - Autoimmune Diseases and Psychosis in Denmark
 - Risks for Transitions in Drug Use in Urban Adults