Background: Theoretical and clinical publications suggest the existence of cultural differences in the expression and experience of depression. Measurement non-equivalence remains a potential methodological explanation for the lower prevalence of depression among Asian Americans compared to European Americans.
Method: This study compared DSM-IV depressive symptoms among Asian Americans and European Americans using secondary data analysis of the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES). The Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) was used for the assessment of depressive symptoms. Of the entire sample, 310 Asian Americans and 1974 European Americans reported depressive symptoms and were included in the analyses. Measurement variance was examined with an item response theory differential item functioning (IRT DIF) analysis.
Results: χ2 analyses indicated that, compared to Asian Americans, European American participants more frequently endorsed affective symptoms such as 'feeling depressed', 'feeling discouraged' and 'cried more often'. The IRT analysis detected DIF for four out of the 15 depression symptom items. At equal levels of depression, Asian Americans endorsed feeling worthless and appetite changes more easily than European Americans, and European Americans endorsed feeling nervous and crying more often than Asian Americans.
Conclusions: Asian Americans did not seem to over-report somatic symptoms; however, European Americans seemed to report more affective symptoms than Asian Americans. The results suggest that there was measurement variance in a few of the depression items.