Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Research suggests that depressed patients of Chinese heritage tend to emphasize somatic symptoms (e.g., fatigue) as opposed to psychological symptoms (e.g., worthlessness). Such tendency has been referred to as somatisation. Recent studies have also supported the idea that Chinese depressed patients are more likely to report somatic symptoms than their 'Western' counterparts. In 2010 fall, I analyzed an archival dataset and found that contrary to my expectation, Euro-Canadian depressed patients were more likely to report atypical somatic symptoms - weight gain, appetite gain, and hypersomnia - than Chinese depressed patients, and they were also more likely to received a diagnosis of atypical depression (AD). Therefore, the current project seeks to first replicate these findings and then move beyond a simple observation of cross-cultural differences by investigating factors that are influencing such differences. I predict that Chinese patients will report a higher overall level of somatic symptoms and higher level of typical somatic symptoms (e.g. insomnia), whereas Euro-Canadian patients will reported a higher level of atypical (e.g. insomnia) somatic symptoms and are more likely to receive a diagnosis of AD. I also predict that the relation between cultural group and AD will be influenced by greater endorsement of 'Western' cultural values and higher SES. This study has three main implications. First, a better understanding of symptom presentations can improve the diagnosis and treatment of depression for Chinese-Canadians, one of the fastest growing groups in Canada. Second, our findings may challenge the simplistic view that only Chinese heritage patients tend to somatize depression, whereas in fact Euro-Canadians patients are more likely to experience atypical somatic symptoms. Finally, our results encourage mental health practitioners to pay attention to specific patient characteristics instead of making generalized assumptions based on one's group membership.