The
Meaning of Depression: The Chinese Word Associations
D.W. Chan |
Variations
in the subjective experience of depression among three samples of
Chinese respondents were investigated by examining the word associations
to you-yu, the Chinese equivalent word of depression. Although the
more frequent associations were mostly internal affective referencts,
two-third of all responses could be interpreted as external referents,
physical, behavioural/interpersonal or somatic, rather than internal
referents. While there were a number of somatic referent terms, there
were virtually no cognitive referent terms among the associations.
Implications for the issue of somatization among the Chinese and
the concern for emotional restraint in expression among the Chinese
in general are discussed.
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