A cross-cultural study evaluating the use of the Rorschach for the assessment of depression in Hmong refugees
Author(s):
Sibilla, Warren William, Jr.
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : California School of Professional Psychology - Fresno, 1992.
Pages:
149
Language:
English
Abstract:
This study examined the usefulness of the Rorschach for the cross-cultural assessment of depression in Hmong refugees by examining the relationship between the Depression Index of the Exner Comprehensive System (DEPI; Exner 1990), the Hmong Adaptation of the Beck Depression Inventory (HABDI; Mouanoutoua, Brown, Cappelletty, & Levine, 1991), and the Depression scale of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 Hmong Version (HSCL-25; Mouanoutoua & Brown, manuscript in preparation). Thirty-two adult, nonpatient, Hmong refugees from Fresno County participated (27 male and 5 female) and individually completed, in Hmong language, a 13-item demographic questionnaire, the HABDI, and the HSCL-25 Hmong Version. The Rorschach was then individually administered to each participant. Fifteen protocols were administered in the Hmong language by a 3rd-year Hmong doctoral level graduate student and 17 were administered by the writer in the English language. Although the HABDI and the HSCL-25 were strongly correlated (r =.85, p $<$.001), neither correlated significantly with the DEPI (HABDI, r = $-$.05; HSCL-25, r =.09). The lack of relationship between the DEPI and the HABDI or the HSCL-25 is discussed in terms of the multifaceted nature of depression and the fact that the instruments were developed for different purposes. The strong positive correlation between the DEPI and this Hmong sample's dissatisfaction with perceived social support (r =.57, p $<$.001) (versus number of actual support or total number of relatives) underscores the enduring, emotionally challenging nature inherent in Hmong acculturation. Neither gender nor language of administration affected Rorschach responses. However, compared with Exner's 1990 adult nonpatient sample, the Hmong Rorschach protocols contained fewer D location responses, fewer form quality ordinary responses, more form quality minus responses, and a lower percentage of form quality plus responses. In combination, these variables suggest the Hmong perceive the world in a more unique, unstructured, expansive manner when compared to a Western nonpatient normative sample. These results, consistent with previous research (cf. Exner, 1991), suggest the DEPI assesses primary personality characteristics rather than acute levels of clinical depression and thus should not be used in isolation from other culturally sensitive measures of clinical depression for the Hmong population.