A cross-cultural study of major depression and family functioning

Patterns of family functioning in families with a depressed member from two cultures (North America and Hungary) were compared. In both cultural settings, families with a depressed member reported poorer family functioning than the control families. Comparisons between the two depressed groups, however, showed that the response to family dysfunction by the two cultures differed. While depressed families in Hungary reported difficulties in setting family rules and boundaries, those in North America experienced impaired functioning in solving problems, communicating, being involved with each other, and in overall functioning. These results are discussed in terms of the interplay between culture, depression and family functioning.