Beyond WEIRD: Associations between socioeconomic status, gender, lifetime stress exposure, and depression in Madagascar - Institut Brestois des Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société Access content directly
Journal Articles Journal of Clinical Psychology Year : 2021

Beyond WEIRD: Associations between socioeconomic status, gender, lifetime stress exposure, and depression in Madagascar

Laurent Foubert
Chandler Spahr
George Slavich

Abstract

Objective Although research has examined associations between socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and acute and chronic life stressors in depression, most studies have been conducted in Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic (WEIRD) populations. Method We addressed this issue by interviewing 65 adults (55 women, M age = 37) living in Madagascar, a typical low- and middle-income country. Results As hypothesized, women experienced more life stressors and depressive symptoms, on average, than men, as did those from lower (vs. higher) SES backgrounds. Additionally, lifetime stress exposure was associated with greater symptoms of depression, accounting for 19% of the variability in depressive symptom levels. These effects differed for acute versus chronic and distal versus recent stressors. Finally, stress exposure significantly mediated the relation between SES and gender on depressive symptoms, accounting for 24.0%–70.8% of the SES/gender-depression association depending on stressor type. Conclusion These data extend prior research by describing how social stratification and gender relate to lifetime stress exposure and depressive symptoms in a non-WEIRD population.

Dates and versions

hal-03972814 , version 1 (03-02-2023)

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Laurent Foubert, Yvonnick Noël, Chandler Spahr, George Slavich. Beyond WEIRD: Associations between socioeconomic status, gender, lifetime stress exposure, and depression in Madagascar. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2021, 77 (7), pp.1644-1665. ⟨10.1002/jclp.23131⟩. ⟨hal-03972814⟩
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