Perception and concern about sociocultural change and psychopathology in a Saudi Arabian sample.

The study presents data on 280 Saudi Arabian University students regarding their perception and concern about social-cultural changes in their society, and comparison of their scores on these variables with their responses on some psychopathology measures. All students were administered an interview schedule evaluating perception and concern (upset--not upset) about sociocultural changes, the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List, the Depression Symptomatology Scale, and a Symptom Inventory. Our results showed that: (1) Substantial numbers were aware of the social and cultural transformations in Saudi Arabia. However, Saudis were, on the whole, less upset about adverse social processes than comparative American samples; (2) depressive and other psychopathology symptoms were reported frequently, and (3) subjects who showed higher levels of concern about sociocultural changes obtained the lowest depression scores, indicating that those who were not upset by social transformation were generally not depressed. The relationship between psychopathology and perception of social nuances was discussed in light of the view that less depressed people are more capable of handling stresses related to personal processing of social variables.