ERIC Number: EJ882633
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jun
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0165-0653
EISSN: N/A
Somatic, Affective and Behavioral Distress Reactions across Cultures
Canel-Cinarbas, Deniz; Aegisdottir, Stefania
International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, v32 n2 p129-143 Jun 2010
The purpose of the present study was to compare the expression and frequency of somatic, affective and cognitive symptoms of distress across Turkish and U.S. university students. An open-ended free-list question was used to elicit distress responses from 827 Turkish and U.S. participants. The coding was done using classical content analysis. It was found that Turkish students reported equal amounts of affective, cognitive, behavioral, somatic, interpersonal and coping responses, whereas the U.S. students reported more affective and somatic symptoms than other response categories. U.S. students reported more affective and somatic symptoms than the Turkish students and the Turkish students listed more behavioral, interpersonal, and coping responses than the U.S. students. Turkish students' tendency to report more behavioral, coping, and interpersonal responses is consistent with the collectivist nature of Turkish society. U.S. students' tendency to report higher levels of somatic symptoms contradicts the findings from the WHO primary care study (Gureje "et al." American Journal of Psychiatry 154:989-995, 1997). Limitations of the study and research and counseling implications of the findings are discussed.
Descriptors: College Students, Emotional Response, Behavior, Psychological Patterns, Physical Health, Coping, Interpersonal Relationship, Comparative Analysis, Content Analysis, Cross Cultural Studies, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Turkey; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A