Depression and help-seeking in a western sample of ‘highly acculturated’ Chinese and controls

BackgroundIt is commonly reported that “the Chinese” have low rates of depression, partially reflecting a greater tendency to somatize and to be less likely to seek help.ObjectiveTo examine the impact of acculturation on depression reporting and help-seeking patterns.MethodWe compared 50 highly acculturated Chinese with age and gender-matched non-Chinese control subjects in a western region on measures of state and lifetime depression, attributional interpretation of somatic cues and help-seeking.ResultsThe highly acculturated Chinese did not differ in state depression rates or tendency to ‘somatize’. There were trends for the Chinese to be less likely to view any depressive episode as a ‘disorder’ and to seek help for a psychological problem.ConclusionDifferences held to exist in the Chinese in acknowledging, reporting and seeking help for depression appear strongly culturally determined.