Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T04:02:19.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A prospective study of social difficulties, acculturation and persistent depression in Pakistani women living in the UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2011

N. Chaudhry ,
N. Husain ,
B. Tomenson  and
F. Creed
N. Chaudhry*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
N. Husain
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
B. Tomenson
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
F. Creed
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: N. Chaudhry, Psychiatry Research Group, School of Community-Based Medicine, The University of Manchester, University Place, The Scan Building, 3rd Floor East Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The reasons for the high prevalence of depressive disorders in women of Pakistani origin living in the UK are not clear. The aim of this study was to determine the relative importance of life events, chronic social difficulties and acculturation in a population-based sample of British Pakistani women.

Method

A cross-sectional and prospective cohort study of 18- to 65-year-old Pakistani women in UK was carried out. The Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry for diagnosis, the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule for social stress and an acculturation questionnaire were used.

Results

Depressive disorder at baseline was associated with older age, social isolation and marked difficulties involving health and close relationships. Depressive disorder at follow-up was associated with severity of depression at baseline, difficulties in close relationships and two aspects of acculturation, especially less acculturation in relation to use of the English language.

Conclusions

Lack of acculturation, especially less familiarity with the English language, is an independent predictor of persistence of depression in Pakistani women in UK. This needs to be taken into consideration when planning treatment, which also needs to address the personal difficulties associated with persistent depression. The implication of this work is that women of Pakistani origin with depression should be encouraged to receive help in the use of English as one part of treatment that may prevent relapse.

Keywords

AcculturationPakistani womenpersistent depressionsocial stress
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 42 , Issue 6 , June 2012 , pp. 1217 - 1226
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bhui, K, Lawrence, A, Klineberg, E, Woodley-Jones, D, Taylor, S, Stansfield, S, Viner, R, Booy, R (2005). Acculturation and health status among African-Caribbean, Bangladeshi and white British adolescents: validation and findings from the RELACHS study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 40, 259–266.Google Scholar
Brown, GW, Adler, Z, Bifulco, A (1998). Life events, difficulties and recovery from chronic depression. British Journal of Psychiatry 152, 487–498.Google Scholar
Brown, GW, Harris, T (1978). Social Origins of Depression; A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. Tavistock Publications: London.Google Scholar
Chaudhry, N (2007). Social Factors Associated with Depression in Pakistani Women. MD Thesis, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Escobar, JI, Vega, WA (2000). Mental health and immigration's AAAs: where are we and where do we go from here? Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 188, 736–740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gater, R, Tomenson, B, Percival, C, Chaudhry, N, Waheed, W, Dunn, G, Macfarlane, G, Creed, F (2008). Persistent depressive disorders and social stress in people of Pakistani origin and white Europeans in UK. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 44, 198–207.Google Scholar
Ghubash, R, Hamdi, E, Bebbington, P (1994). The Dubai Community Psychiatric Survey: acculturation and the prevalence of psychiatric disorder. Psychological Medicine 24, 121–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldthorpe, JH, Hope, K (1974). The Social Grading of Occupations. A New Approach and Scale. Clarendon Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
Husain, N, Creed, F, Tomenson, B (1997). Adverse social circumstances and depression in people of Pakistani origin in the UK. British Journal of Psychiatry 171, 434–438.Google Scholar
Husain, N, Creed, F, Tomenson, B (2000). Depression and social stress in Pakistan. Psychological Medicine 30, 395–402.Google Scholar
Husain, N, Gater, R, Tomenson, B, Creed, F (2006). Comparison of the Personal Health Questionnaire and Self Reporting Questionnaire in rural Pakistan. Journal of Pakistan Medical Association 56, 366–370.Google ScholarPubMed
Hwang, W, Chun, C, Takeuchi, DT, Myers, HF, Prabha, S (2005). Age of first-onset major depression in Chinese Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 11, 16–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hwang, W, Myers, HF (2007). Major depression in Chinese Americans: the roles of stress, vulnerability and acculturation. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 42, 189–197.Google Scholar
Hwang, W, Ting, JY (2008). Disaggregating the effects of acculturation and acculturative stress on the mental health of Asian Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology 14, 147–154.Google Scholar
Martinez-Schallmoser, L, Telleen, S, MacMullen, NJ (2003). The effect of social support and acculturation on postpartum depression in Mexican American women. Journal of Transcultural Nursing 14, 329–338.Google Scholar
Mavreas, V, Bebbington, P (1990). Acculturation and psychiatric disorders: a study of Greek Cypriot immigrants. Psychological Medicine 20, 941–951.Google Scholar
Miller, AM, Chandler, PJ (2002). Acculturation, resilience, and depression in midlife women from the former Soviet Union. Nursing Research 51, 26–32.Google Scholar
Oh, Y, Koeske, GF, Sales, E (2002). Acculturation, stress and depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants in the United States. Journal of Social Psychology 142, 511–526.Google Scholar
Parker, G, Chan, B, Tully, C, Eisenbruch, M (2005). Depression in the Chinese: the impact of acculturation. Psychological Medicine 35, 1475–1483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stopes-Roe, M, Cochrane, R (1990). Citizens of This Country: The British Asian. Multilingual Matters Ltd: Clevedon.Google Scholar
Thapa, SB, Hauff, E (2005). Gender differences in factors associated with psychological distress among immigrants from low- and middle-income countries – findings from the Oslo Health Study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 40, 78–84.Google Scholar
Tinghog, P, Hemmingsson, T, Lundberg, I (2007). To what extent may the association between immigrant status and mental illness be explained by socioeconomic factors? Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 42, 990–996.Google Scholar
van der Wurff, FB, Beekman, AT, Dijkshoorn, H, Spijker, JA, Smits, CH, Stek, ML, Verhoeff, A (2004). Prevalence and risk factors for depression in elderly Turkish and Moroccan migrants in the Netherlands. Journal of Affective Disorders 83, 33–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weich, S, Nazroo, J, Sproston, K, McManus, S, Blanchard, M, Erens, B, Karlsen, S, King, M, Lloyd, K, Stansfeld, S, Tyrer, P (2004). Common mental disorders and ethnicity in England: the EMPIRIC study. Psychological Medicine 34, 1543–1551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, R, Hunt, K (1997). Psychological distress among British South Asians: the contribution of stressful situations and subcultural differences in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Psychological Medicine 27, 1173–1181.Google Scholar
WHO (1992). International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar
WHO (1994). A User's Guide to the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ). World Health Organization: Geneva.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Chaudhry Supplementary Table 1

Supplementary Table S1. Comparison of depressed, distressed and non-depressed women with respect to individual items on the acculturation questionnaire

Download Chaudhry Supplementary Table 1(File)
File 55.8 KB