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Self-Attention as a Mediator of Cultural Influences on Depression

Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, USA, htchen{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu

Peter J. Guarnaccia

Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, Rutgers: State University of New Jersey, USA

Henry Chung

Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, USA

Background: Despite the widespread recognition of cultural differences in depressive symptoms, it is unclear through what processes culture affects depressive symptoms.

Aim: This research aims at examining whether self-attention mediates the influence of acculturation on changes in depressive symptoms in an immigrant group.

Method: Adults of Asian cultural backgrounds were surveyed. Depressive symptoms were assessed and divided into three categories: affective, somatic and interpersonal items of depression. Acculturation experiences were measured. Self-attention to three aspects (i.e. affective, somatic and interpersonal) of the self was also assessed.

Results: As acculturation proceeds, Asian immigrants tend to pay increasingly more attention to the affective aspect of the self and less to the somatic aspect of the self. The changes in the focus of self-attention seem to explain the changes in the experience of depression that include more affective and less somatic symptoms of depression as the degree of acculturation increases. Conclusion: Self-attention to certain aspects of the self seems to play an important role mediating the influence of acculturation on changes in subcategories of depressive symptoms.

Key Words: acculturation • depressive symptom • self-attention

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Vol. 49, No. 3, 192-203 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/00207640030493005


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