Abnormal Psychology: Sociocultural Aetiologies Flashcards
Parker et al - aim
To compare the extent to which depressed Chinese patients in Malaysia and Caucasian patients in Australia identified both cognitive aspects of depression and a range of somatic symptoms as a sign of their depression and the reason that they sought professional help
Parker et al - Procedure
- Sample: Malaysian participants of Chinese heritage and Australian participants of Caucasian heritage
- Australians 1st language: all English
- Chinese 1st language: mix of Chinese and English
- All participants were outpatients who had been diagnosed with MDD but had no other diagnoses
- Questionnaire was based on 2 sets of symptoms:
1. A set of mood and cognitive items common in Western diagnostic tools for depression
2. A set of somatic symptoms commonly observed by Singaporean psychiatrists - Questionnaire was translated into Malay and Mandarin Chinese - it was back-translated to establish credibility
- Patients were asked to judge the extent to which they had experienced each of the symptoms in the last week
- They were asked to rank the symptoms that they experienced in order of how distressing they were
- Through the assistance of their psychiatrists, it was also noted what the primary symptom was that led to them seeking help
Parker et al - Findings and Conclusion
Findings:
- When looking at which symptom led them to actually seek help, far more Chinese participants identified a somatic symptom, compared to the Australians
- There was no significant difference in the number of somatic symptoms indicated by each group as being linked to their depression
- However, the Chinese were significantly less likely to identify cognitive or emotional symptoms as part of their problem
- They were less likely to rate feeling helpless and hopeless, having a depressed mood, having poor concentration, or having thoughts of death than the Australian participants
Conclusion:
- The role of culture is evident here; in Western culture, it is more appropriate to discuss one’s emotions and depression is seen as linked to a lack of emotional well-being; whereas in Chinese culture, it is less appropriate and even stigmatized if one speaks about a lack of emotional health
Parker et al - Evaluation
Strengths:
- The study attempted to develop a questionnaire based on cultural evidence relevant to the participants - they did not simply use a standardized Western questionnaire that may have influenced the results
Limitations:
- Imposed etic approach: chose participants based on the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosing MDD - it may have eliminated people from the sample who may have a form of depression that does not meet the Western criteria for diagnosis; this may account for the similarities between the 2 samples
- Asking patients to recall their “1st symptoms” is open to memory distortion and to demand characteristics - if in the West we believe that depression is an emotional disorder, patients may expect that this is the correct response
- Malaysia is a very modern and Westernized society - the effects of globalization may account for the relatively small difference in the data - research on more cultures would be necessary to test the reliability of the findings
What is the vulnerability model of depression?
Brown and Harris
- protective factors: decreases risk of depression combined with stressful life events - ie. strong sense of community/close family bond
- vulnerability factors: increases risk - ie. loss of mother before age 11, lack of a confiding relationship, more than 3 children under 14 years old at home, unemployment
- provoking agents: acute and ongoing stress
A number of factors that could increase the likelihood of MDD
What are the limitations of the vulnerability models?
Brown and Harris
- Difficulties in how we measure ‘stress’
- Evidence shows that smaller, consistent stressors may be more significant in one’s overall mental health
- It seems that environmental stressors have universal effects on physiology
- Most studies are case studies - difficult to generalize to larger populations
- Unable to explain why some people develop depression when exposed to environmental stressors
- Cultural differences: different cultures may manifest different symptoms for what psychologists believe is the same disorder
Brown and Harris - Aim
To investigate how depression could be linked to social factors and stressful life events in a sample of women
Brown and Harris - Procedure
- Women in London were surveyed on their daily life and depressive episodes
- Researchers focused on important biographical details - particular life events or particular difficulties faced by the women
- Events were later rated in severity by independent researchers
- Social class was measured by the occupation of the husband - which played a significant role in the development of depression in women with children
Brown and Harris - Findings and Conclusion
- Researchers identified 3 major factors that affected the development of depression:
1. Protective factors
2. Vulnerability factors
3. Provoking agents - 8% of all the women had become clinically depressed in the previous year
- Almost all had experienced an adverse life event or a serious difficulty
- Only a small portion of the women who did not become depressed suffered from adversity
- Only a small portion of the women who became depressed had not experienced any adversity
- Working-class women with children were 4 four times more likely to develop depression than middle-class women with children
Conclusion:
- The study showed that social factors in the form of life stress (or serious life events) could be linked to depression
- The study showed risk factors associated with social class
- Low social status leads to increased exposure to vulnerability factors and provoking agents, whereas high social status was associated with increased exposure to protective factors and decreased exposure to provoking agents
Brown and Harris - Evaluation
Strengths:
- Used semi-structured interviews to get an in-depth understanding of the participants’ situation as they see it themselves - increased the credibility of results
- Sample size: relatively large - makes results potentially more reliable
Limitations:
- Only females were interviewed so the results may not be generalizable to men, but the relationship between stressful events and the onset of depression might be applicable to men as well
- The study is based on self-reporting of depressive episodes - it is impossible to accurately determine the actual extent of depression
- Because there is no manipulation of an IV, the findings cannot determine cause and effect
- Findings are correlational: they indicate a relationship between sociocultural factors and depression, but since other variables were not controlled, it is possible that biological vulnerability may also play a role in this study
Evaluate the sociocultural approach to depression
Strengths:
- Modern biological research on the role of stress in depression seems to support vulnerability models
- Vulnerability models acknowledge the interaction of biological and environmental factors
- Sociocultural approaches explain gender and cultural differences in the prevalence and symptomatology of depression
Limitations:
- Vulnerability models are based on measuring “stressful life events” - questionable whether this is valid
- Cultural theories are descriptive in nature - don’t adequately explain the origin of the disorder
- Cross-cultural research is problematic:
- Etic: too ethnocentric
- Emic: comparison of disorders is difficult to make
- Research is primarily correlational in nature - cause and effect relationship can’t be made
