TY - JOUR
T1 - Sense of coherence and depressive symptoms among low-income Bedouin women in the Negev Israel
AU - Daoud, Nihaya
AU - Braun-Lewensohn, Orna
AU - Eriksson, Monica
AU - Sagy, Shifra
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Shadowfax Publishing and Informa UK Limited.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - Background: Higher sense of coherence (SOC) has been associated with lower depression in Western societies; however, it is not clear whether this association manifests similarly in non-Western cultural contexts. Aims: To examine the associations between different levels of SOC and depressive symptoms (DS) among indigenous-minority Arab Bedouin women in Israel and explore possible explanatory variables for this association. Methods: We conducted face-to-face interviews with 464 women (aged 18-49 years). DS was measured based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We used the SOC-13 questionnaire and conducted path analysis using Structural Equation Modeling to examine the contribution of two levels of SOC (low/high) to predict DS beyond psychological resources and socioeconomic position. Results: The mean score of SOC was 3.42, standard deviation (SD)=1.15. While high SOC (mean=4.38, SD=0.66, range=3.5-6.38) was positively and significantly associated with DS (r=0.46), SOC was not associated (r=0.02) with DS in the low SOC group (mean=2.4, SD=0.56, range=1-3.42). Conclusions: Relationships between high versus low SOC and DS among Bedouin women differ from those found in Western societies. This raises questions about the use of SOC as a universal tool in different cultural contexts.
AB - Background: Higher sense of coherence (SOC) has been associated with lower depression in Western societies; however, it is not clear whether this association manifests similarly in non-Western cultural contexts. Aims: To examine the associations between different levels of SOC and depressive symptoms (DS) among indigenous-minority Arab Bedouin women in Israel and explore possible explanatory variables for this association. Methods: We conducted face-to-face interviews with 464 women (aged 18-49 years). DS was measured based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We used the SOC-13 questionnaire and conducted path analysis using Structural Equation Modeling to examine the contribution of two levels of SOC (low/high) to predict DS beyond psychological resources and socioeconomic position. Results: The mean score of SOC was 3.42, standard deviation (SD)=1.15. While high SOC (mean=4.38, SD=0.66, range=3.5-6.38) was positively and significantly associated with DS (r=0.46), SOC was not associated (r=0.02) with DS in the low SOC group (mean=2.4, SD=0.56, range=1-3.42). Conclusions: Relationships between high versus low SOC and DS among Bedouin women differ from those found in Western societies. This raises questions about the use of SOC as a universal tool in different cultural contexts.
KW - Depressive symptoms
KW - Minority women
KW - Sense of coherence
KW - Specific cultural context
KW - Universal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911435161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3109/09638237.2014.951475
DO - 10.3109/09638237.2014.951475
M3 - Article
C2 - 25188747
AN - SCOPUS:84911435161
SN - 0963-8237
VL - 23
SP - 307
EP - 311
JO - Journal of Mental Health
JF - Journal of Mental Health
IS - 6
ER -