The effects of depression on the emotional responses of Spanish-speaking Latinas.
Emotional responses (physiology, self-report, and facial expression) of 12 depressed and 10 nondepressed Spanish-speaking Latinas during sad and amusing film clips of human and animal content were compared. Depressed Latinas demonstrated less electrodermal reactivity across all the film clips and displayed fewer social smiles during the amusing-human film clip than nondepressed Latinas. No differences emerged for cardiovascular measures, reports of emotion, or facial expressions of happiness and negative emotion. Observed differences in electrodermal reactivity are similar to results from previous studies of Anglo Americans, suggesting that reduced electrodermal activity may be linked to depression across cultures. The findings also suggest that, for Latinas, depression may selectively alter expressions that serve interpersonal functions.
Tsai
Jeanne L
JL
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Building 420 Jordan Hall, Stanford, California 94305, USA. jtsai@psych.stanford.edu
Pole
Nnamdi
N
Levenson
Robert W
RW
Muñoz
Ricardo F
RF
D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007802:Language; D009040:Motion Pictures; D012495:San Francisco