ABSTRACT
The present study compares self-rated depressive symptoms of 95 inpatients with depressive syndromes: 45 in Germany and 50 in Egypt. In each country, 50 patients suffering from acute internal diseases served as controls. Psychiatric patients were selected according to DSM-III criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). Depressive symptoms and depth of depression were scored by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The self-rating of depressive symptoms proved sufficient for transcultural comparison, provided controls are used, and was more practicable than observer rating scales. The results indicate higher BDI total scores for Egyptian than for German inpatients. This appear to be due to cultural differences, presumably mostly in language performance ("tendency to hyperbole"). Moreover, Egyptians complained more about somatic symptoms, as has already been frequently suggested on the basis of clinical observations.
Subject(s)
Cross-Cultural Comparison , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Hospitalization , Adult , Age Factors , Depressive Disorder/ethnology , Egypt , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Psychometrics , Sex Factors , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
The paper presents a content-analytical comparison between "last letters" of suicidals (SUI) and parasuicidals (PARA). So far studies on this topic are mostly performed by "external" parameters, e.g. sociodemographic or anamnestic data. The content-analytical approach provides to describe the presuicidal situation on base of "internal" variables. Compared with the suicidal notes the parasuicidal communication can be evaluated as more ambivalent, emotionally disturbed, and cognitively restricted. The successful reclassification of the notes into the two samples by a stepwise discriminant analysis supports the hypothesis, that both groups are distinct even on base of internal variables.
Subject(s)
Communication , Internal-External Control , Suicide, Attempted/psychology , Suicide/psychology , Writing , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Defense Mechanisms , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Object Attachment , Psychometrics , Self-Injurious Behavior , SemanticsABSTRACT
On the background of social-cognitive theories and transcultural aspects of depression relationships between generalized locus of control orientations and indicators of depression were analyzed in clinical samples from Egypt and West Germany. Data were collected in samples of 50 Egypt and 45 German inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD, DSM-III) as well as in control samples of 50 Egyptian and German inpatients with acute medical diseases. Besides the "Beck Depression Inventory" (BDI) and the Hopelessness-Scale (H-Scale) the IPC-Scales were used, measuring internality, powerful others control and chance control in generalized control orientations. Results are: (1) Depressive inpatients are more depressive, more hopeless, more external, and less internal than patients with medical diseases; (2) While the Egyptian patients reach in general a markedly higher level in depression (BDI) than the patients in the German samples, a similar difference in the H-Scale was only observed for the depressive samples; (3) The Egyptian patients show distinctly higher scores in powerful others and chance control; (4) Discriminant analysis shows, that about 60% can be classified to the correct disease- and nationality-group by using the IPC-Scores; (5) There are some cultural specifica in the correlative patterns of the studied variables. It is concluded, that the results confirm on a general level the transcultural validity of cognitive approaches to depression. But it is noted as well, that cultural specificia in the structure of the cognitive orientations underlying depression require some differentiations of the constructs of such approaches.
