Sense of coherence and depressive symptoms among low-income Bedouin women in the Negev Israel

• 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.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Omvårdnad (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Nursing (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Psykiatri (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Psychiatry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

sense of coherence

Bedouin women

depressive symptoms

Folkhälsovetenskap

Public health science

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