The Stirling County Longitudinal Study, 1952-1992

The Stirling County Study is an ongoing longitudinal investigation of the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders among adults (18 years of age and older) in a general population. The site is a county located in Atlantic Canada for which the fictitious name of “Stirling County” is used to protect identity. The general purpose of the study is to investigate relationships between social environmental factors and epidemiologic rates of psychiatric disorders. The study was started in 1948 by Dr. Alexander H. Leighton (now deceased). Dr. Jane M. Murphy (now deceased) joined the study in 1951 and has directed it since 1975. These data sets consist of information given in structured interviews by 3,410 subjects who were selected in representative samples of the county at three points in time.