Work

Conceptual Models of Depression in Primary Care Patients

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: Conventional psychiatric treatment models are based on a biopsychiatric model of depression. A plausible explanation for low rates of depression treatment utilization among ethnic minorities and the poor is that members of these communities do not share the cultural assumptions underlying the biopsychiatric model. The study examined conceptual models of depression among depressed patients from various ethnic groups, focusing on the degree to which patients' conceptual models 'matched' a biopsychiatric model of depression. The sample included 74 primary care patients from three ethnic groups screening positive for depression. We administered qualitative interviews assessing patients' conceptual representations of depression. The analysis proceeded in two phases. The first phase involved a strategy called 'quantitizing' the qualitative data. A rating scheme was developed and applied to the data by a rater blind to study hypotheses. The data was subjected to statistical analyses. The second phase of the analysis involved the analysis of thematic data using standard qualitative techniques. Study hypotheses were largely supported. The qualitative analysis provided a detailed picture of primary care patients' conceptual models of depression and suggested interesting directions for future research.

Source: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

DOI: 10.1177/0022022109348782

Authors: Alison Karasz, Nerina Garcia, Lucia Ferri

Institutions: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital Center

Language: English

Topic: Mental Health Treatment and Access

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health