Lower rates of depression in westernised Chinese in the US

Low reported rates of depression in Chinese populations could reflect real or artefactual factors, and might be clarified by studying acculturated Chinese in western regions. We therefore sought to determine whether reported rates of depressive disorders differ in resident Chinese and matched non-Chinese controls in a large US community survey.

We accessed data from the US National Epidemiological Survey of Alcoholism and Related Conditions, involving 306 Chinese subjects and 306 matched non-Chinese subjects.

The Chinese reported significantly lower lifetime and 12-month major depression rates, and a lower lifetime rate of dysthymia. Similar rates were quantified for Chinese born in the US and Chinese born overseas. The Chinese did not differ from controls in terms of recurrence rates of major depression.

Due to our matching analytic strategy, the reported statistics (e.g. prevalences) apply to our matched samples and should not be taken as estimates for the population.

Findings indicate that westernisation does not eliminate differences in depression rates long described in Chinese regions, and favour a model whereby the Chinese have a lower vulnerability to depression onset.