Comparison of depressive symptomatology between Saudi and American psychiatric outpatients in an Eastern Province medical center, Saudi Arabia.

This study compares the responses to a self-report depression inventory administered to a sample of 243 Saudi and American expatriate psychiatric outpatients of a large Eastern Province medical centre in Saudi Arabia. The inventory was developed by Beck et al. (1961), and the Arabic language form was validated by West and Al-Kaisi (1982). A Kruskal-Wallis statistical analysis revealed that American male patients tended to be more depressed than American female patients, Saudi female patients reported "depression scores" higher than those of Saudi male patients, and Saudi patients overall reported higher "depression scores" than American patients participating in the same study. The highest and lowest significant response frequencies for Saudis were: Pessimism (H = 74.26) and Hypochondria (H = 17.13); for Americans: Indecisiveness (H = 25.57) and Self-Image (H = 7.85). (Statistical significance when H = 7.82, p less than .05; H = 16.27, p less than .001; df = 3). Although explanations are offered, the appearance of psychopathology as designated by this cross-cultural scale requires further cultural examination.