Decision making in clinically depressed patients. A transcultural social psychological study

One of the most important cognitive deficits in depression is said to be the patient's inability to make decisions. A research design involving a cross-cultural comparison between Australian and Japanese normal controls (N = 309 and N = 743, respectively) and clinically depressed patients (N = 59 and N = 45, respectively) was used to examine the influence of culture on illness and decision-making behavior, and whether deficits in decision making may be related to culture. It was found that depression had a greater effect on decision making in Australian patients than in Japanese patients. While many differences were found between Australian and Japanese nondepressed students, few differences were found between Australian and Japanese depressed patients. Thus, there appears to be an important interactional effect of culture and depression on decision making. The theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.