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Symptoms of Depression Among Caribbean Women and Caribbean-Canadian Women; An Investigation of Self-Silencing and Domains of Meaning
Abstract
This study compared an immigrant sample of Caribbean-Canadian women (n = 20) and a sample of women living in the Caribbean (n = 20) on the following variables: dominant domain of meaning (defined as that aspect of the participant's life from which she derives primary meaning for her sense of self); self-silencing (defined as the tendency to silence one's thoughts and feelings; Jack, 1991); and symptoms of depression. Results revealed that the Caribbean women were more likely to report relational domains of meaning as primary (e.g., family, friendships, intimate relationships), while the Caribbean-Canadian women were more likely to report domains of self-nurturance as primary (e.g., career goals, spirituality). Furthermore, univariate analysis revealed that the Caribbean-Canadian women reported higher levels of self-silencing and depressive symptoms, and derived less meaningfulness from their primary domains of meaning compared to the Caribbean women. These findings suggest that the immigrant experience may be a factor in women's emotional well-being.
... Once established, the specific instrument for measuring selfsilencing allowed the development of the empirical research upon its relationship with depression (e.g., Abrams et al., 2019;Ali & Toner, 2001;Besser et al., 2003;Carr et al.,1996;Cramer et al., 2005;Flett et al., 2007;Peleg-Sagy & Shahar, 2015;Thompson, 1995;Thomas & Bowker, 2013;Ussher & Perz, 2010). Even if studies generally confirmed a significant positive relationship, the magnitude of the effects varies from small (e.g., Ahmed & Iqbal, 2019) to medium (e.g., Drew et al., 2004) and even large ones (e.g., Ali & Toner, 2001). ...
... Once established, the specific instrument for measuring selfsilencing allowed the development of the empirical research upon its relationship with depression (e.g., Abrams et al., 2019;Ali & Toner, 2001;Besser et al., 2003;Carr et al.,1996;Cramer et al., 2005;Flett et al., 2007;Peleg-Sagy & Shahar, 2015;Thompson, 1995;Thomas & Bowker, 2013;Ussher & Perz, 2010). Even if studies generally confirmed a significant positive relationship, the magnitude of the effects varies from small (e.g., Ahmed & Iqbal, 2019) to medium (e.g., Drew et al., 2004) and even large ones (e.g., Ali & Toner, 2001). ...
... Grant et al., 2011) to large ones (e.g. Ali & Toner, 2001) with few exceptions such as Ali et al. (2000), Kurtiș (2010), and Tippet (2014), who found non-significant correlations. ...
Introduction: Over time, several studies have provided knowledge about the relationship between self-silencing and depression. However, even if there is a tendency to obtain positive correlations, results ranging from null to large effects are rather variable, and until now no meta-analysis exists of these results, to our knowledge. Under these circumstances, the purpose of the present study is to quantitatively integrate existing results refecting the relationship between self-silencing and depression and to explore potential moderators of this relationship, in regards to conceptual aspects and characteristics of the samples. Methods: Our meta-analysis incorporates 31 published and 11 unpublished studies (with a total of 10,108 participants and 131 effect sizes), written in English, which statistically quantify the link between self-silencing and depression. For the analysis of the overall effect, specific meta-analytical procedures were used for heterogeneity, publication bias, and potential moderators. Results: There is an overall significant positive and medium correlation between self-silencing and depression (r = 0.391, p < 0.001). The heterogeneity of the results is partially explained by components of self-silencing, measured in each study and certain features of the samples such as age, sexual orientation, and level of education. Discussion: For researchers on this topic, our results offer a more precise input for computing sample sizes and also generate expectations of results as a function of specific methodological features. For practitioners, our results suggest the importance of approaching components of self-silence in counseling and therapy (with increased attention towards the externalized self-perception and the divided self) as mechanisms in depression (especially for younger and highly educated clients, and for non-heterosexuals).
... 143,144 As such, personal or family matters are considered private, and the revelation of family matters or private knowledge to strangers is viewed with disapproval. 145,146 Further, Caribbean people are strongly discouraged from dwelling on family or personal problems. Instead, the culture places an emphasis on perseverance and exercising control over emotions. ...
... Patients may have concerns that their confidentiality may not be maintained. 146 When caring for women or men, these influences are important to appreciate as they can greatly impact disclosure of a patient's medical history, particularly when mental health conditions are discussed. Further, this can influence a patient's preferences about where help is sought and how care for these conditions is provided. ...
... Many individuals and families have historically pursued help from religious advisors rather than seeking treatment in a health care facility or from a provider. 145,146 Influence of Spirituality and Traditional Healing on Health. Religion and superstition are intertwined within many aspects of Caribbean life. ...
Sustainable and reciprocal partnerships in pharmacy education and practice exist between schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States and Caribbean countries and territories. This paper discusses the cultural considerations for such partnerships to flourish. First, general information on Caribbean countries and territories is covered. Next, the paper transitions into how to ensure culturally sensitive engagements when traveling to or hosting visitors from the Caribbean. This paper is intended to assist practitioners with integrating culturally sensitive considerations into the development of partnerships in this region.
... Interview data of college students (Kambouropoulos, 2015) revealed that the greatest barriers to help-seeking, were issues of confidentiality and 'invasion of privacy' and a preference for self-management. Indeed, discussing private and family matters with strangers is not viewed as acceptable behavior in Caribbean societies (Ali & Toner, 2001;Marwaha & Livingston, 2002). Counseling sessions require free emotional expression and disclosure of private information to a counselor/psychiatrist which is in conflict with values that emphasize self-reliance and self-silencing (Lin, 2002). ...
... This finding is not consistent with numerous studies that suggest that males have less positive attitudes toward help-seeking and have more difficulties disclosing strong feelings in the counseling process. According to Ali and Toner (2001), in Caribbean culture women in particular silence certain thoughts and beliefs. A study of help-seeking among university students by Kearns, Muldoon, Msetfi & Surgenor (2015) found that female students had a higher stigma toward help-seeking than males. ...
This study examined factors that may influence students' willingness to seek professional psychological help from the counselling services provided at a university. The study further investigated the relationship between sex, age, status of students (part-time, full-time), place of residence (urban, rural) and ethnicity and perceived barriers to seeking psychological help.The study used a sequential explanatory mixed methods research design conducted across two phases. In Phase One, a questionnaire survey was used to measure barriers to seeking professional help from a random sample of 925 students. In the second qualitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted with students to explore in a more in-depth way reasons put forward in the survey for not seeking professional psychological help.Statistical tests for the first phase were means, t-tests, ANOVA and Pearson Moment Product Correlation. Results showed that students viewed privacy, access, and trust issues as the most important barriers to seeking psychological help. There were also significant differences with regard to stigma, privacy and trust issues based on sex, age, year group, full-time/part-time status and ethnicity. Significant high to moderate correlations were found between all four factors. Qualitative findings supported factors examined in the first phase. However, other themes emerged such as lack of time, preference for solving one's own problems and preference for other sources of support.
... Interview data of college students (Kambouropoulos, 2015) revealed that the greatest barriers to help-seeking, were issues of confidentiality and "invasion of privacy" and a preference for self-management. Indeed, discussing private and family matters with strangers is not viewed as acceptable behavior in Caribbean societies (Ali & Toner, 2001;Marwaha & Livingston, 2002). Counseling sessions require free emotional expression and disclosure of private information to a counselor/psychiatrist which is in conflict with values that emphasize self-reliance and self-silencing (Lin, 2002). ...
... This finding is not consistent with numerous studies that suggest that males have less positive attitudes toward help-seeking and have more difficulties disclosing strong feelings in the counseling process. According to Ali and Toner (2001), in Caribbean culture women in particular silence certain thoughts and beliefs. A study of help-seeking among university students by Kearns, Muldoon, Msetfi & Surgenor (2015) found that female students had a higher stigma toward help-seeking than males. ...
This study investigated the attitudes of student teachers towards several dimensions of blended learning to determine their readiness for blended learning. The study also sought to find out if teachers' attitudes towards blended learning were related to age, sex, year group, student specialization, part-time or full-time status and place of residence.
The study adopted a survey research methodology to examine students' attitudes towards blended learning. Respondents consisted of 807 student teachers from two campuses of a university in Trinidad. Analyses for the research questions consisted of t-tests, analysis of variance, Pearson Correlation Coefficient using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS-V. 17). Exploratory factor analysis with varimax rotation was used to determine the underlying factor structure of the blended learning scale.
Exploratory factor analysis supported six factors that explained 56.3% of the variance. Reliability estimates ranged from .731 to .857. Results indicated that teachers viewed learning flexibility and technology as the most important or valued aspect of blended learning. There were also significant differences in students' attitudes based on sex, part-time/full-time status, primary and secondary specialization, age and year group. There was a significant positive correlation betweenonline learning and online interaction and technology. Significant negative correlations were found between online learning and classroom learning and online environment. Implications and recommendations for improvement were suggested for creating an improved survey instrument and providing a more supportive blended learning environment.
... Verwiebe, 2011;Wiscow, 2006) or by comparing their personality or motivational factors to their counterparts who do not migrate (e.g. Ali & Toner, 2001;Tartakovsky, 2011). An advantage of these studies is that these people are actual migrants. ...
... However, theory suggests that people with high affiliation motivation are less interested in migrating, as that will mean leaving the affiliative ties one has built in the present location (Frieze & Li, 2010). Ali and Toner (2001) found that women who immigrated to Canada placed a lower value on interpersonal relationships than their counterparts who stayed in their Caribbean home. Boneva et al. (1998) also found that Albanian college students were more likely to stay in their home country when their affiliation motivation was high. ...
Understanding possible motivations that may lead to actual emigration is crucial to fully comprehend the topic of immigration. Like all other human behaviors, which are a function of a person's psychology and the environment that he or she is in (Schneider, 1987), migration decisions also depend on both person and environmental factors. This chapter specifically deals with the person factor in influencing people's desire to migrate, including basic motivation theory and other personality factors. It is argued that these motivational and personality factors determining one's migration desire have important implications for people's lives after their immigration, affecting their acculturation in the new location and other forms of adaptation. Research questions arising from this analysis are also discussed in the chapter.
... Aversion to Western treatment approaches and absence of information about mental health services have been known to impede some immigrant groups from seeking health from the health care system [11,36]. Research with some ethnic minority groups indicate the belief in and use of alternate therapies and stress management techniques such as ''being strong'' and/or ''self silencing'' to manage or ameliorate depression [49][50][51]76]. The belief in alternate treatment models can also be a barrier to accessing services. ...
... The studies reviewed in this paper indicate the importance of the further research on various components of the Social Determinants of Health as they related to immigrants' access to services. In particular research needs to focus on: the intersecting nature of various social determinants of health including stressors and risk factors that incorporate racism, ethnicity, culture, immigration, and social exclusion [19]; the relationship between employment and health among skilled immigrants; long-term effects of under/unemployment [74]; better ways of assessing racism and discrimination, as well as emotions and coping as they relate to racial discrimination [75]; the influence of the immigrant experience on women's emotional well-being [76]; immigrants' maintenance of informal social supports and the protective effects of such support [56]; relationship between world events, discrimination, intercommunity relation and individual mental health [77]; and mediators of positive association of religious participation and mental health [78]. ...
This article emerges from a scoping review of over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants' access to mental health services in Canada. Key online databases were searched to explore the gaps and opportunities for improving access to mental health services using a review framework provided by Arksey and O'Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19-32, 2005). Immigrants and refugees came from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds and had complex mental health-related concerns that were not currently being adequately addressed by existing services. The major barriers to the utilization of mental health services included: those related to the uptake of existing health information and services; those that were related to the process of immigrant settlement; and barriers related to availability of appropriate services. A thematic analysis of the range of recommendations that emerge from these studies for improvement of research, practice and policy is provided.
... Caribbean-Canadian women and Caribbean women living in their homeland (Ali & Toner, 2001). The findings indicated higher levels of self-silencing and depression among the immigrant sample relative to women living in their homeland. ...
... The first concerns the over-reliance on the experience of White, primarily North American, participants in much of the research on selfsilencing (similar to research on self-disclosure). As the few aforementioned studies involving different ethnic/ racial groups point out, the level (Ali & Toner, 2001) or significance (Carr et. al, 2006) of the link between self-silencing and depression might vary as a function of differences in gender roles or understandings of self and relationships across different sociocultural contexts. ...
“Silencing the Self” theory (STST; Jack, 1991) posits that societal devaluation of female–related self promotes self–silencing among women in romantic relationships and thereby threatens their well–being. A cultural psychological (CP) perspective suggests that these dynamics may reflect the location of STST in cultural worlds that promote “independent” constructions of self. Drawing upon a CP analysis, the present study considers the hypothesis that implications of silence for well–being may be less damaging in Turkish settings that promote more “interdependent” constructions of self. Consistent with this hypothesis, but inconsistent with previous research, results of a survey study revealed that two dimensions of Silencing the Self Scale—self–silencing and care as self–sacrifice— were unrelated to relationship satisfaction and depression. Discussion considers implications for women's silence and well-being in Turkish contexts.
... This assumption is consistent with principles underlying extant interpersonal (Cashdan, 1982) and behavioral (Jacobson, Martell, & Dimidjian, 2001) treatments for depression. For instance, people often report meaning as arising from experiences of interpersonal intimacy and connectedness (Ali & Toner, 2001;Ali, Oatley, & Toner, 2002;Debats et al., 1995;Moore, 1997;Debats, 1999), and the fact that 2 of the PMP's 7 subscales (relationship and intimacy) are interpersonal in nature provides convergent support for this notion. ...
... Overlapping these categories of implicit meaning, Baum and Stewart (1990) found that individuals commonly report work, love and marriage, childbirth, and engagement in independent, avocational activities as leading to a sense of meaning in life, with the last category highlighting the potential relevance of creativity and play to a sense of existential meaning. Similarly, Ali and Toner (2001) and Ali et al. (2002) found some dominant sources of meaning in women to be spirituality, career concerns, romantic relationships, friendship relationships, and familial relationships, with Ali et al. (2002) finding additional categories of physical exercise and creative (artistic) expression. Finally, in Heiland et al.'s (2002) study of HIV positive patients, the categories of career, self-indulgence, spirituality, romantic partners, family and friends, helping others, and leisure (avocational) activities emerged as common sources of meaning. ...
Although researchers are now able to assess reliably the variable of existential meaning, quality longitudinal investigations of meaning's relationship with specific clinical variables are scarce. The author conceptualizes existential meaning as a composite of personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning. These latter three variables are, respectively, the experience of one's particular life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent or spiritual presence from which one derives a sense of unique purpose, and manifesting attitudes and behavior that are normatively valued. Utilizing a sample of 395 male and female undergraduates and employing the framework subscale of the Life Regard Index-Revised (LRI-R-framework), the Spiritual Meaning Scale (SMS), and the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP) to measure personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning, respectively, the author explored existential meaning's relationship overtime with depressive symptoms (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, depression scale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and depression scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory) and hope (as measured with the Herth Hope Scale, the Adult State HopeScale, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale). A latent cross-lagged panel analysis of the relationship between meaning and depression over 2 one-month time periods indicated that meaning exerted unidirectional influence on depression, with decreases in meaning leading to increases indepressive symptoms. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis showed that individuals with low levels of existential meaning were more likely than those with higher meaning levels to experience increased symptoms of depression in response to increased stress levels. Because the newly developed SMS (appended to this paper) was the only meaning measure exhibiting sufficient discriminant validity with regard to hope, only the SMS was entered in cross-lagged panel analysis measuring its relationship to hope over the 2 one-month periods of time, with results indicating that spiritual meaning and hope reciprocally influence one another. Existential meaning seems appropriately conceptualized as a construct consisting of personal, spiritual, and implicit components. Because this construct can be assessed reliably and may play a role in the etiology and alleviation of depressive symptoms, the author calls for increased research within clinical settings on methods for optimizing individuals' levels of existential meaning. "Major Subject: Psychology" Title from author supplied metadata (automated record created on Feb. 23, 2007.) Vita. Abstract. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas A&M University, 2006. Includes bibliographical references. Text (Dissertation). Mode of access: World Wide Web. System requirements: World Wide Web access and Adobe Acrobat Reader.
... This assumption is consistent with principles underlying extant interpersonal (Cashdan, 1982) and behavioral (Jacobson, Martell, & Dimidjian, 2001) treatments for depression. For instance, people often report meaning as arising from experiences of interpersonal intimacy and connectedness (Ali & Toner, 2001;Ali, Oatley, & Toner, 2002;Debats et al., 1995;Moore, 1997;Debats, 1999), and the fact that 2 of the PMP's 7 subscales (relationship and intimacy) are interpersonal in nature provides convergent support for this notion. ...
... Overlapping these categories of implicit meaning, Baum and Stewart (1990) found that individuals commonly report work, love and marriage, childbirth, and engagement in independent, avocational activities as leading to a sense of meaning in life, with the last category highlighting the potential relevance of creativity and play to a sense of existential meaning. Similarly, Ali and Toner (2001) and Ali et al. (2002) found some dominant sources of meaning in women to be spirituality, career concerns, romantic relationships, friendship relationships, and familial relationships, with Ali et al. (2002) finding additional categories of physical exercise and creative (artistic) expression. Finally, in Heiland et al.'s (2002) study of HIV positive patients, the categories of career, self-indulgence, spirituality, romantic partners, family and friends, helping others, and leisure (avocational) activities emerged as common sources of meaning. ...
Although researchers are now able to assess reliably the variable of existential meaning, quality longitudinal investigations of meaning's relationship with specific clinical variables are scarce. The author conceptualizes existential meaning as a composite of personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning. These latter three variables are, respectively, the experience of one's particular life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent or spiritual presence from which one derives a sense of unique purpose, and manifesting attitudes and behavior that are normatively valued. Utilizing a sample of 395 male and female undergraduates and employing the framework subscale of the Life Regard Index-Revised (LRI-R-framework), the Spiritual Meaning Scale (SMS), and the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP) to measure personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning, respectively, the author explored existential meaning's relationship over time with depressive symptoms (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, depression scale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and depression scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory) and hope (as measured with the Herth Hope Scale, the Adult State Hope Scale, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale). A latent cross-lagged panel analysis of the relationship between meaning and depression over 2 one-month time periods indicated that meaning exerted unidirectional influence on depression, with decreases in meaning leading to increases in depressive symptoms. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis showed that individuals with low levels of existential meaning were more likely than those with higher meaning levels to experience increased symptoms of depression in response to increased stress levels. Because the newly developed SMS (appended to this paper) was the only meaning measure exhibiting sufficient discriminant validity with regard to hope, only the SMS was entered in cross-lagged panel analysis measuring its relationship to hope over the 2 one-month periods of time, with results indicating that spiritual meaning and hope reciprocally influence one another. Existential meaning seems appropriately conceptualized as a construct consisting of personal, spiritual, and implicit components. Because this construct can be assessed reliably and may play a role in the etiology and alleviation of depressive symptoms, the author calls for increased research within clinical settings on methods for optimizing individuals' levels of existential meaning.
... It is also known that cultural characteristics are effective in seeking help. For example, discussing private and family matters with strangers is not considered acceptable behaviour in Caribbean societies (Ali & Toner, 2001). Seeking psychological help for mental health problems also conflicts with religious rituals for those in collectivist cultures. ...
The purpose of the current study is to investigate the mediator role of perceived social support and attitudes towards seeking psychological help in the relationship between childhood traumas and future expectations of adolescents. With this study, it is thought that by supporting the perceived social support and psychological help-seeking attitudes of adolescents, their future expectations can be increased and the negative effects of childhood trauma can be reduced. Addressing childhood trauma together with future expectation, perceived social support and psychological help-seeking attitude may help to better understand the childhood trauma of adolescents and to create a comprehensive trauma treatment model. The sample consisted of 375 high school students, comprising 65.10% females and 34.90% males, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years (M=15.79, SD=1.42). The data were collected using a demographic information form and four self-report scales. In addition to descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Bootstrap Analysis were used to analyse the data. The results of the study revealed that the mediator role of perceived social support and attitudes towards seeking psychological help in the effect of future expectations on childhood trauma of adolescents is statistically signific
... Numerous empirical studies have, in fact, established this theorized relationship between self-silencing and depression (Carr et al. 1996;Flett et al. 2007;Grant et al. 2011;Jack and Dill 1992;Thompson 1995), and self-silencing has also been shown to relate to a wide variety of other negative psychological and behavioral outcomes, including insecure attachment and reduced intimacy (Thompson and Hart 1996), poor dyadic relationship adjustment (Thompson 1995), risky sexual behaviors (Jacobs and Thomlison 2009), difficulty coping with illness (Dale et al. 2014;Kayser et al. 1999), and low achievement motivation (Spratt et al. 1998). The predictive value of the self-silencing construct has also been demonstrated in a variety of cultural contexts, including Nepal , Poland (Drat-Ruszczak 2010), Portugal (Neves et al. 2015), Canada (Frank and Thomas 2003), Finland (Hautamaki 2010), and with samples of recent Caribbean immigrants to the United States (Ali and McFarlane 2012) and Canada (Ali and Toner 2001). ...
Self-silencing (Jack in Silencing the self: women and depression, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1991; Jack and Ali, in: Jack, Ali (eds) Silencing the self across cultures: depression and gender in the social world, Oxford University Press, New York, 2010), the tendency to silence one’s self-expressions in service of maintaining important relationships, has been studied primarily as a risk factor for depression in women. In this study, self-silencing in teacher-student relationships was assessed in a sample of college students (n = 142) and 4th-graders (n = 52), using a new scale adapted from Jack and Dill’s (Psychol Women Q 16:97–106, 1992) Silencing the Self scale. Self-silencing in school was shown to be related to several negative academic outcomes in both samples, including low behavioral engagement, negative emotions (i.e., sadness, anxiety, anger), and maladaptive strategies for coping with failure. The results of path analyses suggested that self-silencing relates to poor academic outcomes through its association with reduced student autonomy and poor teacher-student relationship quality. Based on these results, a reinterpretation of self-silencing through the perspective of self-determination theory (Ryan and Deci in Self-determination theory: basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press, New York, 2017) is presented.
... Moreover, difficulties associated with inclusion in the new environment have negative effects on the physical and psychosocial health of immigrants [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Migration is often exacerbated by stressful experiences of social isolation which may result in physical and mental health problems [11][12][13]. Therefore, various factors are involved in the mental health of the immigrant, and their relationships are complex [5,7]. ...
The present research evaluated the psychosocial health and quality of life of North African (NA) immigrant women living in Italy. A survey of 205 NA-born and Italian-born women was carried out. Psychosocial, sociodemographic and migration data were collected. Anthropometric indices were computed by direct measurements of height, weight, waist and hip circumferences. Multivariate analysis showed that the main explanatory variable for all dimensions of psychosocial status was the migrant status. Other explanatory variables were educational level and number of children for psychological discomfort, and weight status for well-being, quality of life and stress. Anthropometric indices were explanatory variables for quality of life. In conclusion, this study provides further evidence of higher psychological stress and discomfort and lower well-being and quality of life in immigrant women. Public social support is necessary to control, maintain and improve the mental health outcomes of immigrant communities in the host country.
... In line with the evidence, indirect evidence from studies on affiliation motivation (e.g. the desire to form and maintain relationships; McClelland, 1987) indicates that people who place a higher value on relationships with their present friends and family are less likely to move away from their place of origin (e.g. Ali & Toner, 2001;Boneva et al., 1999). ...
... Empirical support for these expected relationships between migration desires and affiliation motivation have been mixed. Ali and Toner (2001), comparing women who immigrated into Canada with a comparison group of women who remained in their Caribbean homes, found that those who had left placed a lower value on their interpersonal relationships. This is consistent with the idea of lower affiliation motivation in those who are more mobile. ...
Introduction: The Psychology of Global Mobility.- Introduction: The Psychology of Global Mobility.- Context.- Human Mobility in a Global Era.- Mixed-Methods Approaches to Contextually Grounded Research in Settings of Armed Conflict and Natural Disaster.- Ethical Psychological Practice with Geographically Mobile Individuals and Groups.- Motives.- Mobility and Personality.- Identity and Global Mobility.- Global Mobility, Local Economy: It's Work Psychology, Stupid!.- The Psychology of Enforced Mobility.- Adjustment.- Global Mobility and Cross-Cultural Training.- Mobility and Acculturation.- Mobility and Inclusion.- New Settlement and Wellbeing in Oppressive Contexts: A Liberation Psychology Approach.- Performance.- Mobility and Careers.- Global Mobility and Bias in the Workplace.- Technology, Mobility, and Poverty Reduction.
... With respect to stressors associated with discrimination, research has shown that an increase in perceived societal and systemic discrimination from Caucasians resulted in significant increases of being diagnosed with major depressive disorder, conduct disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder (p.323) among African American and Caribbean adolescents living in the United States (Portes, Kyle, & Eaton, 1992). In a study comparing Caribbean women in living in Canada to those living in the Caribbean, Ali and Toner (2001) found higher reporting of self-silencing and levels of depressive symptoms among the Caribbean Canadian women. They postulate that discrimination may be one factor that contributes to lower emotional well-being among Caribbean women who had immigrated to Canada. ...
This chapter describes various social factors in the lives of Haitian women that intersect with the experience of depression. It presents an overview of socio-political influences on the health and well-being of Haitian women, as well as an examination of various healthrelated beliefs and practices that shape the ways in which their physical and emotional problems are understood. The chapter traces the history of Haitian culture with a particular emphasis on the roles of women in social and political movements. Gender emerges as a complex and evolving variable in the lives of Haitians, especially within the context of women's participation in grassroots organizations and the movement toward democratization. Besides tracing the history and impact of social movements in Haiti, the chapter also uses the Multicultural Competency Model to demonstrate the association between culture and depression for Haitian women.
... Lack of social support and poverty that often accompany the migration and settlement process have been found to exacerbate mental ill health [52,63,80,102]. A part of the acculturation process is learning how to cope in Canada with limited social supports after immigration as migration disrupts many of the traditional supports that immigrants enjoyed in their home countries [123,141,157,165]. ...
The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) strategy calls for promoting the health and wellbeing of all Canadians and to improve mental health outcomes. Each year, one in every five Canadians experiences one or more mental health problems, creating a significant cost to the health system. Mental health is pivotal to holistic health and wellbeing. This paper presents the key findings of a comprehensive literature review of Canadian research on the relationship between settlement experiences and the mental health and well-being of immigrants and refugees. A scoping review was conducted following a framework provided by Arskey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ health in Canada was searched. These included English language peer-reviewed publications from relevant online databases Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Healthstar, ERIC and CINAHL between 1990 and 2015. The findings revealed three important ways in which settlement affects the mental health of immigrants and refugees: through acculturation related stressors, economic uncertainty and ethnic discrimination. The recommendations for public health practice and policy are discussed.
... Post-migration challenges are compounded by stressful experiences of social isolation (Ali & Toner 2001, Katz & Gagnon 2002, Fung & Dennis 2010. Social isolation and exclusion are known to contribute to mental health problems and illness among diverse immigrant and refugee groups (Beiser et al. 1993, Ahmad et al. 2004, Beiser & Hou 2006, Ahmed et al. 2008, Whitley & Kirmayer 2008, Simich et al. 2009). ...
Accessible summary:
Social support has positive and negative dimensions, each of which has been associated with mental health outcomes. Social networks can also serve as sources of distress and conflict. This paper reviews journal articles published during the last 24 years to provide a consolidated summary of the role of social support and social conflict on immigrant women's mental health. The review reveals that social support can help immigrant women adjust to the new country, prevent depression and psychological distress, and access care and services. When social support is lacking or social networks act as a source of conflict, it can have negative effects on immigrant women's mental health. It is crucial that interventions, programmes, and services incorporate strategies to both enhance social support as well as reduce social conflict, in order to improve mental health and well-being of immigrant women.
Abstract:
Researchers have documented the protective role of social support and the harmful consequences of social conflict on physical and mental health. However, consolidated information about social support, social conflict, and mental health of immigrant women in Canada is not available. This scoping review examined literature from the last 24 years to understand how social support and social conflict affect the mental health of immigrant women in Canada. We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Healthstar, and EMBASE for peer-reviewed publications focusing on mental health among immigrant women in Canada. Thirty-four articles that met our inclusion criteria were reviewed, and are summarized under the following four headings: settlement challenges and the need for social support; social support and mental health outcomes; social conflict and reciprocity; and social support, social conflict, and mental health service use. The results revealed that social support can have a positive effect on immigrant women's mental health and well-being, and facilitate social inclusion and the use of health services. When social support is lacking or social networks act as a source of conflict, it can have negative effects on immigrant women's mental health. The results also highlighted the need for health services to be linguistically-appropriate and culturally-safe, and provide appropriate types of care and support in a timely manner in order to be helpful to immigrant women.
... Several writers have indicated that language used by African Caribbean women to express or experience depression should also be considered in providing effective treatment (Abas, 1996;Ali & Toner, 2001). For instance, Abas (1996, p. 378) found in her study that African Caribbean populations rarely used words such as 'sad' or 'unhappy', terms often used to describe depressive symptoms listed in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental and disorders (DSM-IV) (APA, 2000, p. 356). ...
Depression is a common condition among women in the United Kingdom. However, little is known about the context of depression among British African Caribbean women. This article offers a preliminary discussion regarding issues and information pertaining to depression among British African Caribbean women. Characteristics and symptoms of depression along with treatment issues will also be presented.
... Empirical support for these expected relationships between migration desires and affiliation motivation have been mixed. Ali and Toner (2001), comparing women who immigrated into Canada with a comparison group of women who remained in their Caribbean homes, found that those who had left placed a lower value on their interpersonal relationships. This is consistent with the idea of lower affiliation motivation in those who are more mobile. ...
Although economic factors are a key factor in decisions to emigrate to another region, there are always some individuals who chose not to leave. Others might emigrate even when conditions they are leaving are quite good. In this chapter, we argue that there are a number of personality factors related to new settlement decisions. Some aspects of personality, such as achievement motivation and power motivation, appear to relate to wanting to leave, especially if conditions are bad. Other personality factors, such as affiliation motivation, predict place attachment, or wanting to stay. Empirical research has demonstrated support for these conclusions, both in predicting emigration to another country and to other regions within a country.
We further argue that the same types of personality factors may relate to more temporary moves. Thus, underlying motivations may relate to seeking study abroad programs or other forms of mobility that are not intended to be permanent moves. Another form of mobility that has received little attention in psychological studies is leisure travel. This too may relate to underlying personality factors such as motivations of various types.
Just as personality may relate to mobility, it may also predict the decisions made about where to go. If lack of satisfaction of basic motivations is the underlying cause for migration, people will seek a location that they believe will allow more satisfaction of these motives. If the relevant motivation is affiliation, people will seek locations where other family members or friends live.
We conclude by discussing some of the implications of these ideas about the mobile personality. In order to better understand new settlers, it is important to clarify what factors led to their emigration, and what motives they seek to better satisfy.
... In combination with devaluing and restricting environments, silencing the self is thought to reinforce negative self-perception, lower self-esteem and result in feelings of a ''loss of self.'' Self-silencing has been found to be significantly associated with depressive symptoms across diverse female populations who experience differing demands for self-silencing behaviors in their social contexts (Ali et al. 2002;Ali and Toner 2001;Duarte and Thompson 1999;Geller et al. 2000;Hart and Thompson 1996;Jack and Dill 1992;Kayser and Sormanti 2002;Page et al. 1996;Smolak and Munstertieger 2002;Thompson 1995;Thompson et al. 2001;Uebelacker et al. 2003;Woods 1999). ...
Depression among women commonly co-occurs with substance abuse. We explore the association between women's depressive symptoms and self-silencing accounting for the effects of known childhood and adult risk indicators. Participants are 233 ethnically diverse, low-income women who abused alcohol/drugs prenatally. Depressive symptomatology was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index. Multivariate logistic regression models examined the association between self-silencing and the dependent depression variable. The full model indicated a 3% increased risk for depressive distress for each point increase in self-silencing score (OR = 1.03; P = .001). Differences in depressive symptomatology by ethnic groups were accounted for by their differences in self-silencing.
... It would obviously be interesting and useful to have research data on the attachment status of emigrants. A study comparing values of immigrants' relationships, work and spirituality with those of native-born individuals showed that Caribbean women remaining in their homeland derived more meaning from relationships and found them most important, while women who had emigrated from the Caribbean to Canada derived less meaning from work and spirituality but found them still important (Ali & Toner, 2001). It is unclear whether personal relationships became less important for this group of immigrant women, or if they had always been less important: Attachment status of the immigrants would more likely be insecure, and, more specifically, dismissive. ...
Bu araştırmanın temel amacı, kadınların sosyal onay ihtiyaçları, kendini sansürleme istekleri ve depresyon düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 35 yaş ve üzeri kadınlar oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada veri toplamak amacıyla; Sosyal Onay İhtiyacı Ölçeği, Kendini Sansürleme İsteği Ölçeği ve Beck Depresyon Envanteri kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde Spearman Korelasyon Analizi, Kruskal Wallis H Testi, Bağımsız Gruplar t Testi ve Mann Whitney U Testi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular incelendiğinde, sosyal onay ihtiyacı ile kendini sansürleme isteği ve sosyal onay ihtiyacı ile depresyon düzeyi arasında pozitif yönde orta düzeyde manidar bir ilişkinin olduğu görülmüştür. Kendini sansürleme isteği ile depresyon düzeyi arasında ise pozitif yönde düşük düzeyde manidar bir ilişki bulunmuştur. Bağımsız değişkenlerin (eğitim durumu, çalışma durumu, medeni durum, sosyal güvence, aile tipi) etkisini incelemek adına yapılan fark testleri sonuçlarına göre sosyal onay ihtiyacı aile tipine göre manidar bir farklılık göstermiştir. Kendini sansürleme isteğinin eğitim durumuna, çalışma durumuna ve medeni duruma göre manidar bir şekilde farklılaştığı bulunmuştur. Depresyon düzeyinin ise çalışma durumuna göre manidar bir şekilde farklılaştığı görülmüştür.
In the context of women’s mental health several propositions have been made to account for their increased susceptibility to certain psychiatric illnesses. However, given the topic’s multifacetedness, no single explanation is found sufficient in itself. ‘Silencing the Self’ theory sheds new light on this issue because it acknowledges the importance of social and cultural processes. Besides with its relational perspective, it centers on the primacy of core relationships and its influence on a woman’s mental health. Even though, since its inception three decades ago, the theory has been studied in relation to various psychological and physical disorders; it has hitherto received inadequate attention by scholars. Nonetheless, it has the potential to inform our understanding when formulating women’s mental health issues. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive narrative account of the extant work on ‘silencing the self’ in relation to psychiatric illnesses like depression, eating disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. It attempts to synthesize the work done till date, as a starting point for further investigation of unexamined areas.
This study experimentally examined the affective and social consequences of emotion regulation in men and women from young adulthood to old age. Participants were instructed to reappraise, suppress, or given no instructions while recalling a negative memory about their romantic relationship. Participants were 191 adults in a Trinidadian lifespan sample. Engaging in suppression resulted in higher relationship satisfaction, particularly for women, whereas engaging in reappraisal reduced negative affect for middle-aged versus younger adults. Reappraisal was, however, particularly consequential for young women who experienced higher levels of negative affect compared with men of the same age and older aged women. Regardless of instructions, older adults experienced higher relationship satisfaction, higher positive and lower negative affect than younger aged adults. Results are discussed considering the positivity effect for older adults, and how the current and historical climate of Trinidad influences the way women regulate their emotions.
Meaning in life, defined as a sense of coherence and purpose that has personal, spiritual/self-transcendent, and implicit/normative-ethical components, plays an integral role in promoting psychological health, whether viewed from a clinical, existential, or positive psychological perspective. Clinical research focuses on the impact that one’s ability to make meaningful assumptions about self and world has on levels of anxiety, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as well as the link between alleviation of depressive symptoms and a sense of purpose motivating activation of meaningful behaviors. Positive psychological research emphasizes the resiliency against psychopathology and positive emotions experienced by individuals with a strong sense of meaning in life. The existential tradition deals with the intrinsic value in facing the tension between absurdity and malevolence we encounter in the world and the pervasiveness and intricacy of our encounters with coherence and virtue. Insofar as the concept of meaning in life winds its way from symptom focused, clinical concerns, through aspects of resiliency and positive emotions, and finally to concerns that transcend the dichotomy between positive and negative states, sensitivity to this concept results in a well-rounded and farsighted framework for the conduct of psychotherapy. This framework promotes the alleviation of acute distress, remediation of vulnerabilities for such distress, enhancement of positive well-being beyond the mere absence of or resiliency against psychopathology, and contact with frequently unnoticed or avoided aspects of existence that stir self-transcendent motivation and emotion. This chapter reviews research findings and theory informing a meaning sensitive approach to psychological well-being, details a framework for applying these findings in the practice of psychotherapy, and, where appropriate, suggests useful research directions.
This chapter discusses the role of self-silencing theory in conceptualizing the experiences of women who have immigrated to Canada and the U.S. from the Caribbean. The author presents an integration of self-silencing theory and the full frame approach (a theoretical orientation that frames women's experiences through the consideration of factors such as personal history, social history, and ethnicity). Using this integrated theoretical framework, the chapter describes the experiences of Caribbean immigrant women by drawing upon data collected through a series of focus groups. These data demonstrate that self-silencing theory and the full frame approach can together inform our understanding of the social isolation and disconnection that are common for new immigrants, as well as the diminished self-worth that can be precipitated by encounters with racism.
This paper uses Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework for conducting scoping reviews to examine 25 years of Canadian literature to understand the importance of cultural beliefs, religion, and spirituality in the context of immigrant mental health and/or service utilization. A review of 24 selected articles revealed 4 broad areas relative to the role of religion, spirituality, and culture in these contexts. Based on the findings the authors suggest that in increasingly diverse societies like Canada there is an urgent need for mental health professionals to take into account in their practice their service users’ cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs.
How Eastern Afro-Carribbean Women Report About Their Intimate Relationships: A Descriptive and Correlational StudyMigdalia Brathwaite, Ph.D.University of Pittsburgh, 2010Little published research describes views of intimate heterosexual relationships among non-Western samples of women. This study represents a first attempt to document Afro-Caribbean women's views about their intimate relationships. A small sample of 53 Afro-Caribbean women from the island of Barbados were interviewed in their homes for a larger study of body image. Included in the measures were questionnaires about the extent to which women's expectations were or were not met in their current heterosexual relationships and if symptoms of depression were experienced. The women in this study generally reported, like Western women, that their relationships met their expectations (whatever those expectations may have been), that they contributed more positive than negative behaviors to the relationship, and that they experienced mostly mild or infrequent depressive symptoms. Unlike findings for Western samples, however, neither relationship duration, women's level of education, nor the extent to which they reported depressive symptoms covaried with whether they reported that their expectations were met or not. In summary, this study did not shed light on possible sources of Afro-Caribbean women's relationship satisfaction, although it potentially ruled out a few. An ethnographic approach to further research on this population was recommended.
This chapter describes the ways in which self-silencing theory can be used to understand the experiences of women in inner-city Boston living with HIV/AIDS. The author discusses how the self-silencing construct contributed to the creation of a gender-sensitive culturally relevant intervention related to safe sex behaviors for women at risk. The chapter presents a program of community-based participatory action research that involves (a) an examination of the complex problem of women living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and (b) the use of the author's culturally relevant intervention to change behavior, increase self-esteem, decrease depression, and give "voice" to women. The author argues that self-silencing theory can be applied in creating an innovative approach to HIV/AIDS prevention for women.
Fears of loss of control and utilization of dualistic discourse (e.g., me/not me; my PMS self/my real self) are hallmarks of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as described in self-help books and articles in the popular press. In the present study, 182 North American women, ages 18-46 years, were recruited online to complete measures of self-silencing, perfectionism, affective control, and use of dualistic discourse. Women who reported that they experience PMS (N = 90) scored significantly higher on the measure of concern about affective control and used more dualistic discourse than did women who did not report PMS (N = 78). High scores on the self-silencing and perfectionism scales predicted greater concern about affective control. Our findings can be useful in designing psychotherapeutic interventions to reduce distress and assist women in coping with their symptoms.
Self-silencing theory suggests that women ignore their own feelings and needs to attend to the desires of others. However, the impact of such self-silencing on physical activity behavior is unknown. This study examined the degree of self-silencing among a group of highly educated and relatively affluent African American women and the strength of self-silencing as a predictor of physical activity. The mean total self-silencing score for participants was 71.46. Overall, women reported spending approximately 193 min per week engaged in physical activity but only 36% met current recommendations for aerobic physical activity. Self-silencing did not predict physical activity behavior.
The perception of meaning in life, or existential meaning, is an individual differences variable requiring improved construct specification and longitudinal analysis. The authors conceptualize of existential meaning as consisting of personal, spiritual, and implicit sub-constructs, respectively, experiencing one's life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent presence in which one participates, and manifesting normatively valued attitudes/behavior. Latent cross-lagged panel analysis modeling meaning's longitudinal relations with depressive symptoms in a sample of 395 undergraduates indicated that baseline levels of meaning predicted changes in depressive symptoms over a two-month duration. Additionally, women were found to score higher than men on two of three measures of meaning. Study results have ramifications for how we conceive of and measure existential meaning, as well as how we conceptualize and address psychological distress. The authors conclude with a discussion of social factors requiring further investigation that may influence the experience of meaning in life.
The current literature on attachment and immigration is reviewed and attachment theory is used to illuminate immigrants' responses during the stages of premigration, transit, settlement, and adjustment/adaptation. The author argues that immigrants are more likely than nonimmigrants to have an insecure attachment representation, and considers both causes and effects of immigration from an attachment theory perspective. It is suggested that long-term implications of immigration experience may include increased vulnerability to attachment trauma, and that understanding social support and clinical aspects of immigrants' needs will benefit from the application of attachment theory. The author considers the usefulness of applying attachment theory to the experiences of nonimmigrant groups including expatriate employees, members of the armed services, government employees stationed abroad and even foreign students are discussed. Several attachment-based research focuses to examine attachment among immigrants are proposed.
This study investigated the impact of emotional openness on attitudes towards seeking professional counseling of 500 English-speaking
Caribbean college students, some living in the U.S. and others resident in the Caribbean. Length of stay in the U.S. was included
as a potentially influential variable. Results indicated that emotional openness is a statistically significant predictor
of the attitudes of Caribbean college students in general towards seeking professional counseling, while, where relevant,
length of stay in the U.S. was not. Implications for university counselors both in the Caribbean and the U.S. are discussed.
KeywordsCaribbean-Mental health-Emotional openness
Employees deserve use of the latest theoretical and research knowledge to improve the wellness care that occupational health nurses provide. Self nurturance is a newly recognized component of adult wellness. Teaching self nurturance to employees can empower self responsibility for improved health. Occupational health nurses can use the Nemcek Wellness Model to structure a wellness practice that includes assessing employees' self nurturance practices, self nurturance knowledge, and wellness outcomes such as satisfaction with life and examining the effects health promotion interventions have on employees' self nurturance practices, self nurturance knowledge, and wellness outcomes. Correlational and experimental designs are suggested to expand self nurturance research.
Although research reliably finds an association between stressful live events and depression, little progress has been made on understanding which events will lead to depression in which people. A cognitive - life stress integrative model was tested that predicted depressive symptoms following stressful life events when the negative events were personally meaningful the the individual, and likely to be interpreted as depletions or failure in the domain of central relevance to self-worth. Using Beck and colleagues' Sociotropy-Autonomy Scale to classify participants according to the value they placed on interpersonal and autonomy/achievement goals, unipolar depressed outpatients were followed prospectively for periods of up to two years, with periodic assessments of life events and symptoms. As predicted, patients' periods of worst symptoms followed a 3-month period m which life event stress that matched their personally relevant domain significantly exceeded that of the non-relevant domain. Also, of patients who experienced an onset following a symptom-free period, the severity of symptoms was significantly predicted by the interaction of their autonomy score and achievement events; however, the same pattern did not occur for sociotropy score and interpersonal events. The results provide some support for the integration of cognition and life event approaches to depression, but limitations in the study, including small sample size, necessitate further research.
Gave a sex-role stereotype questionnaire consisting of 122 bipolar items to 79 actively functioning clinicians with 1 of 3 sets of instructions: to describe a healthy, mature, socially competent (a) adult, sex unspecified, (b) a man, or (c) a woman. It was hypothesized that clinical judgments about the characteristics of healthy individuals would differ as a function of sex of person judged, and that these differences would parallel sterotypic sex-role differences. A 2nd hypothesis predicted that behaviors and characteristics judged healthy for an adult, sex unspecified, which are presumed to reflect an ideal standard of health, will resemble behaviors judged healthy for men, but not for women. Both hypotheses were confirmed. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The difficulties inherent in obtaining consistent and adequate diagnoses for the purposes of research and therapy have been pointed out by a number of authors. Pasamanick12 in a recent article viewed the low interclinician agreement on diagnosis as an indictment of the present state of psychiatry and called for "the development of objective, measurable and verifiable criteria of classification based not on personal or parochial considerations, but on behavioral and other objectively measurable manifestations."Attempts by other investigators to subject clinical observations and judgments to objective measurement have resulted in a wide variety of psychiatric rating scales.4,15 These have been well summarized in a review article by Lorr11 on "Rating Scales and Check Lists for the Evaluation of Psychopathology." In the area of psychological testing, a variety of paper-and-pencil tests have been devised for the purpose of measuring specific
Silencing the self theory (Jack, 1991) holds that women's depression is closely related to experiences in close relationships, especially if women conform with societal norms for feminine relationship roles. In conforming, Jack believes that women develop relationship schema that heighten vulnerability to loss of self-esteem and depressive symptomatology. An exploratory study addressed relationships among self-report measures of silencing the self, dyadic adjustment, demographic variables, and depressive symptomatology in a community sample of 155 cohabiting women and men, including 37 heterosexual couples from which both partners provided data. Although relationship adjustment was no more closely associated with depressive symptomatology for women than for men, silencing the self was. Demographic variables (number of children, employment status, and income) accounted for a significant proportion of variance in depressive symptomatology for men but not for women. Women's self-reported silencing was related to both their own and their partner's relationship adjustment.
In this chapter, the authors analyze the topics covered in articles on health in feminist as well as nonfeminist psychological journals. They demonstrate that health research published in nonfeminist journals ignores women, people of color, and Women of Color, even when the disease being studied is more prevalent among these groups. Likewise, they demonstrate that health research published in feminist journals also ignores Women of Color. In addition, feminist health research neglects serious health problems among women of all ethnic groups and instead focuses on the reproductive issues (e.g., pregnancy and abortion) of concern to relatively healthy, wealthy European American feminists. The major health problems that Women of Color face (e.g., high rates of debilitating hypertension, diabetes, cancer, sarcoidosis, thyroid disorders, as well as lack of access to adequate care) have not been addressed by researchers in women's health, are rarely mentioned in women's health textbooks, and never have been included in feminist efforts to empower women through self-help groups, educational campaigns, or political action. They then present suggestions for a culturally diverse women's health research program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The Silencing the Self Scale (STSS), derived from a longitudinal study of clinically depressed women, measures specific schemas about how to make and maintain intimacy hypothesized to be associated with depression in women. To assess its psychometric properties, the STSS was administered with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to three samples of women: college students (n= 63), residents in battered women's shelters (n= 1401, and mothers (n= 270) (of 4-month-old infants) who abused cocaine during pregnancy. The STSS had a high degree of internal consistency and test-retest reliability and was significantly correlated with the BDI in all three samples.
Sixty-five licensed clinical psychologists independently diagnosed 18 written case histories on the basis of 10 DSM-III categories. The results showed that females were rated significantly more histrionic than males exhibiting identical histrionic symptoms. There was no comparable sex bias to diagnose males showing antisocial pathology as more antisocial than females. The explanation proposed is that the antisocial category is behaviorally anchored whereas the histrionic category is trait dominated. Thus, the findings suggest that vague diagnostic descriptions promoted sex stereotyping and sex bias in diagnosis.
Research studies focusing on the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with psychiatric and nonpsychiatric samples were reviewed for the years 1961 through June, 1986. A meta-analysis of the BDI's internal consistency estimates yielded a mean coefficient alpha of 0.86 for psychiatric patients and 0.81 for nonpsychiatric subjects. The concurrent validitus of the BDI with respect to clinical ratings and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were also high. The mean correlations of the BDI samples with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0. 72 and 0.73, respectively, for psychiatric patients. With nonpsychiatric subjects, the mean correlations of the BDI with clinical ratings and the HRSD were 0.60 and 0.74, respectively. Recent evidence indicates that the BDI discriminates subtypes of depression and differentiates depression from anxiety.
A large body of evidence indicates that women are more likely than men to show unipolar depression. Five classes of explanations for these sex differences are examined and the evidence for each class is reviewed. Not one of these explanations adequately accounts for the magnitude of the sex differences in depression. Finally, a response set explanation for the sex differences in depression is proposed. According to this explanation, men are more likely to engage in distracting behaviors that dampen their mood when depressed, but women are more likely to amplify their moods by ruminating about their depressed states and the possible causes of these states. Regardless of the initial source of a depressive episode (i.e., biological or psychological) men's more active responses to their negative moods may be more adaptive on average than women's less active, more ruminative responses.
A congruency between personality and life stress is assumed to pose a particular risk for depression. The authors review relevant research as a way of examining broader issues entailed in diathesis-stress models of depression. Topics include the identification of distinct personality modes and the differentiation of these modes from the phenomena of depression and the influence of the social context. Diathesis-stress models face formidable conceptual and methodological challenges. More complex models are needed to accommodate the dynamics of a person's life course, involvement in significant social contexts, and fluctuations in vulnerability to depression. Base rates of key phenomena favor development of models of depression recurrence in high-risk samples rather than its onset in the general population.
Synopsis
This paper is part of a series dealing with the role of life events in the onset of depressive disorders. Women who developed depression in a general population sample in Islington in North London are contrasted with a National Health Service-treated series of depressed patients in the same area. Findings among the latter confirm the importance of a severely threatening provoking event for onset among the majority of depressed women patients. The results for the two series are similar except for a small subgroup of patients characterized by a melancholic/psychotic condition with a prior episode.
The severe events of importance have been recognized for some time by the traditional ratings of the Life Events and Difficulty Schedule (LEDS). However, the full descriptive material collected by the LEDS has been used to develop a new refined measure reflecting the likelihood of feelings of humiliation and being trapped following a severely threatening event, in addition to existing measures of loss or danger. The experience of humiliation and entrapment was important in provoking depression in both the patient and non-patient series. It proved to be associated with a far greater risk of depression than the experience of loss or danger without humiliation or entrapment.
Racism in the lives of women
- J Adleman
- G Enguidanos
Adleman, J., & Enguidanos, G. (1995). Racism in the lives of women. New York: Haworth Press.
Life stress, self-silenc-ing, and domains of meaning in unipolar depression: An investigation of an outpatient sample of women. Manuscript submitted for publication Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation
- A Ali
- K Oatley
- B B Toner
Ali, A., Oatley, K., & Toner, B. B. (2000). Life stress, self-silenc-ing, and domains of meaning in unipolar depression: An investigation of an outpatient sample of women. Manuscript submitted for publication. Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77–100.
Sexual orientation and communication in relationships: Self-silencing, mutu-ality and power in heterosexual and lesbian relationships Special tabulations: Immigrant popula-tions. Toronto: Statistics Canada Income in Canada
- K Penza
- A Reiss
- H Scott
Penza, K., Reiss, A., & Scott, H. (1997, May). Sexual orientation and communication in relationships: Self-silencing, mutu-ality and power in heterosexual and lesbian relationships. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Washington, D.C. Statistics Canada (1996). Special tabulations: Immigrant popula-tions. Toronto: Statistics Canada. Statistics Canada (1998). Income in Canada. Toronto: Statistics Canada.