Manifestation of Depression in Korean & Anglo Americans

Kim, Miyong

Abstract

Depression is the number one mental health problem facing Americans of any demographic or ethnic group. Although there is much research devoted to explaining depression, most studies focus almost exclusively on dominant western understandings of the syndrome of depression, and little research exists on ethnic minority conceptions of this common health problem. Furthermore, previous depression research has ignored an essential part of the human illness experience, namely cultural context. Consequently, the cultural context of the depression experience is absent in the assessment of and interventions for depression in ethnic minority groups. The long term career goal of this investigator is to develop and implement culturally relevant mental health interventions for underrepresented ethnic minorities such as Korean Americans. Korean Americans are a major and growing immigrant group in United states and depression is the most prominent mental illness suffered by these new Americans. As a first step toward the long term goal, a series of qualitative studies were conducted, over the last three years, with older Korean American women. Findings indicate that the depression experiences of Korean Americans are quite different than those of Anglo Americans of european descent. Since most Korean Americans are recent immigrants, their conceptions and symptomatology of depressions are strongly influenced by their traditional culture. Consequently, existing depression screening tools and interventions developed and based on western conceptualizations are insensitive to the cultural expressions of depression seen in Korean Americans. The purpose of this study is to enhance the theoretical and empirical understanding of the depressive experience of Korean Americans. Specifically, this study is concerned with developing a reliable and valid screening tool, composed of culturally relevant variables, for use in studying depression and its correlates among Korean American immigrants. A preliminary depression scale for Korean Americans (Kim Depression Scale for Korean American; KDSKA) was developed and pilot tested. Initial pilot testing of the instrument demonstrated an acceptable reliability (.89) in a community population (non-diagnosed group). The proposed study will focus on rigorous construct validity testing. A structural equation modeling approach with multiple sample comparisons (Korean Americans vs Anglo Americans) will be used to determine the unique features of depression manifestation in two different ethnic groups. This approach minimizes measurement error and allows for the uniqueness of each group to be sensitively detected. In addition, the relationships among selected variables that are theoretically related to the depressive experience of Korean Americans and Anglo Americans will be delineated and tested.