IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v63y2017i7p569-579.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Becoming a patient-illness representations of depression of Anglo-Australian and Sri Lankan patients through the lens of Leventhal’s illness representational model

Author

Listed:
  • Josefine Antoniades
  • Danielle Mazza
  • Bianca Brijnath

Abstract

Background: Depression is prevalent globally. While the uptake of mental health services is poor in the general community, the lack of service engagement is particularly profound in migrant and refugee communities. To understand why there is under-utilisation cross-cultural comparisons of how people make sense of mental illnesses such as depression are essential. Aims: To verify how differing cultural aetiologies about depression influence mental health service use, this study investigated illness representational models of depression held by Sri Lankan migrants and Anglo-Australians living with depression. Methods: In-depth interviews ( n  = 48) were conducted with Sri Lankan migrants and Anglo-Australians living with depression to explore their illness beliefs. Data were analysed using Leventhal’s illness representational model. Results: Significant overlaps in illness representational models were noted but distinctive differences were found between causal and chronicity beliefs; Sri Lankan migrants more frequently endorsed depression as a time-limited condition underpinned by situational factors, whereas Anglo-Australians endorsed a chronic, biopsychosocial model of depression. Discussion and conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of forging a shared understanding of patient beliefs in the clinical encounter to ensure that interventions are coherent with illness beliefs or at least work towards improving mental health literacy. Differences in illness beliefs also provide insights into possible interventions. For example, psychosocial interventions that align with their illness beliefs may be more suited to Sri Lankan migrants than pharmaceutical or psychological ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Josefine Antoniades & Danielle Mazza & Bianca Brijnath, 2017. "Becoming a patient-illness representations of depression of Anglo-Australian and Sri Lankan patients through the lens of Leventhal’s illness representational model," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 63(7), pages 569-579, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:63:y:2017:i:7:p:569-579
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764017723669
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764017723669
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764017723669?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karasz, Alison, 2005. "Cultural differences in conceptual models of depression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(7), pages 1625-1635, April.
    2. Weiss, Mitchell G. & Desai, Amit & Jadhav, Sushrut & Gupta, Lalit & Channabasavanna, S.M. & Doongaji, D.R. & Behere, Prakash B., 1988. "Humoral concepts of mental illness in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 471-477, January.
    3. Yang, Lawrence Hsin & Kleinman, Arthur & Link, Bruce G. & Phelan, Jo C. & Lee, Sing & Good, Byron, 2007. "Culture and stigma: Adding moral experience to stigma theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(7), pages 1524-1535, April.
    4. Weiss, Mitchell G. & Sharma, S. D. & Gaur, R. K. & Sharma, J. S. & Desai, A. & Doongaji, D. R., 1986. "Traditional concepts of mental disorder among Indian psychiatric patients: Preliminary report of work in progress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 379-386, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. R.K. Chadda & Vivek Agarwal & Megha Chandra Singh & Deepak Raheja, 2001. "Help Seeking Behaviour of Psychiatric Patients Before Seeking Care At a Mental Hospital," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 47(4), pages 71-78, December.
    2. Song, Jieun & Mailick, Marsha R. & Greenberg, Jan S., 2018. "Health of parents of individuals with developmental disorders or mental health problems: Impacts of stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 152-158.
    3. Jong Won Min, 2019. "The Influence of Stigma and Views on Mental Health Treatment Effectiveness on Service Use by Age and Ethnicity: Evidence From the CDC BRFSS 2007, 2009, and 2012," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, September.
    4. Kai Wei & Daniel Jacobson López & Shiyou Wu, 2019. "The Role of Language in Anti-Immigrant Prejudice: What Can We Learn from Immigrants’ Historical Experiences?," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Nandini D. P. Sarkar & Azucena Bardaji & Koen Peeters Grietens & Joske Bunders-Aelen & Florence Baingana & Bart Criel, 2018. "The Social Nature of Perceived Illness Representations of Perinatal Depression in Rural Uganda," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Wright, Annemarie & Jorm, Anthony F. & Mackinnon, Andrew J., 2011. "Labeling of mental disorders and stigma in young people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 498-506, August.
    7. Jacobs, Susan & Quinn, Joseph, 2022. "Cultural reproduction of mental illness stigma and stereotypes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    8. Katz, Arlene M. & Alegría, Margarita, 2009. "The clinical encounter as local moral world: Shifts of assumptions and transformation in relational context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1238-1246, April.
    9. Shinji Sakamoto & Itsuki Yamakawa & Masaki Muranaka, 2016. "A comparison of perceptions of ‘modern-type’ and melancholic depression in Japan," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(7), pages 627-634, November.
    10. Tomori, Cecilia & Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Dowling, Sally, 2016. "Contested moral landscapes: Negotiating breastfeeding stigma in breastmilk sharing, nighttime breastfeeding, and long-term breastfeeding in the U.S. and the U.K," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 178-185.
    11. Moufakkir, Omar, 2015. "The stigmatized tourist," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 17-30.
    12. Wilcox, Claire E. & Washburn, Rachel & Patel, Vikram, 2007. "Seeking help for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in developing countries: A study of parental explanatory models in Goa, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 1600-1610, April.
    13. Yang, Lawrence Hsin & Kleinman, Arthur, 2008. "'Face' and the embodiment of stigma in China: The cases of schizophrenia and AIDS," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 398-408, August.
    14. Yang, Lawrence H. & Chen, Fang-pei & Sia, Kathleen Janel & Lam, Jonathan & Lam, Katherine & Ngo, Hong & Lee, Sing & Kleinman, Arthur & Good, Byron, 2014. "“What matters most:” A cultural mechanism moderating structural vulnerability and moral experience of mental illness stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 84-93.
    15. Lucy, Meghann, 2024. "“Fighting demons”: Stigma and shifting norms in explicit mention of overdose in obituaries, 2010–2019," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    16. Kai Sing Sun & Tai Pong Lam & Dan Wu, 2018. "Chinese perspectives on primary care for common mental disorders: Barriers and policy implications," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(5), pages 417-426, August.
    17. Billings, Katie R. & Cort, David A. & Rozario, Tannuja D. & Siegel, Derek P., 2021. "HIV stigma beliefs in context: Country and regional variation in the effects of instrumental stigma beliefs on protective sexual behaviors in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Southern Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    18. Yang, Lawrence H. & Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie & Kotabe, Hiroki & Link, Bruce G. & Saw, Anne & Wong, Gloria & Phelan, Jo C., 2013. "Culture, threat, and mental illness stigma: Identifying culture-specific threat among Chinese-American groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 56-67.
    19. Tine Van Bortel & Steven Martin & Sabrina Anjara & Laura B Nellums, 2019. "Perceived stressors and coping mechanisms of female migrant domestic workers in Singapore," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, March.
    20. Freyja Grupp & Marie Rose Moro & Sara Skandrani & Ricarda Mewes, 2022. "Coping with Trauma and Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Exploring Intentions and Lay Beliefs about Appropriate Strategies among Asylum-Seeking Migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:63:y:2017:i:7:p:569-579. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.