Punjabi Depression Inventory: A Culturally Sensitive Measure for Punjabi-Speaking Migrants Residing in the UK.

This study aims to develop and validate a new cultural measure of depression known as the Punjabi Depression Inventory (PDI). The PDI is used to detect depression in Punjabi-speaking individuals which may be triggered as a result of their cultural experiences. The PDI specifically targets Punjabi-speaking individuals who now permanently reside in the United Kingdom (UK), but originally migrated here from India. Therefore, the PDI is intrinsically linked to the Punjabi culture and language. There is a lack of empirical research investigating the impact of culture on depressive symptoms within such a cohort of individuals. In developing the new PDI measure, 191 participants were recruited to complete the questionnaire, which was analysed using Principle Components Analysis (PCA). Four subscales emerged from this data reduction analysis: 1) deflated (for example, “I am inadequate”); 2) somatic (for example, “I feel sore”); 3) religion (for example, “I have lost interest in going to my holy place of worship”); and 4) crying (for example, “I weep”). On the whole, the early developments of the PDI demonstrated good factor structure and internal consistency for each of the four subscales: 1) deflated (Cronbach’s α = .76); 2) somatic (Cronbach’s α = .84); 3) religion (Cronbach’s α = .79); and 4) crying (Cronbach’s α = .82). These findings suggest that the items from each of the four factors adequately measure the construct of cultural depression in its target cohort. As a result, the PDI could possibly be used as an aid to provide training to help mental health professionals and to enhance their cultural knowledge of working with this class of individuals. Furthermore, the emerging PDI measure may introduce an interesting new scope for mental health professionals to broaden their methods of assessment, formulation and treatment plans. This includes the introduction of a new cultural assessment which can be utilised to identify, and specifically target, cultural depression experienced by such a cohort. This is currently lacking and underexplored within the mental health professions. Finally, the present thesis will conclude by providing provisional guidelines for multicultural practice and training, followed by a discussion of the methodological constraints. This serves to inform any future research undertaken to further assess and explore the PDI.