Cultural psychopathology : Uncovering the social world of mental illness

• Published in: Annual review of psychology Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 571 - 598
• Main Authors: REGESER LOPEZ, S, GUARNACCIA, P. J. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto, CA Annual Reviews 01-01-2000; Annual Reviews, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Anxiety; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child health; Child psychology; Children; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural Characteristics; Culture; Global Health; Health aspects; Humans; Internal-External Control; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Mental Disorders - ethnology; Mental Disorders - psychology; Psychiatric research; Psychology, Pathological; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Schizophrenia; Social aspects; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Sociocultural environment; Socioeconomic Factors; United States; Psychosis; Social environment; Human; Child psychiatry; Cultural environment; Anxiety disorder; Schizophrenia; Mental disorder; Review
• ISSN: 0066-4308; 1545-2085
• DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.571

We review cultural psychopathology research since Kleinman's (1988) important review with the goals of updating past reviews, evaluating current conceptualizations and methods, and identifying emerging substantive trends. Conceptual advances are noted, particularly developments in the definition of culture and the examination of both culture-specific and cultural-general processes. The contributions of the Culture and Diagnosis Task Force for DSM-IV and the World Mental Health Report are reviewed and contrasted. Selected research on anxiety, schizophrenia, and childhood disorders is examined, with particular attention given to the study of ataque de nervios, social factors affecting the course of schizophrenia, and cross-national differences in internalizing and externalizing problems in children. Within the last ten years, cultural psychopathology research has become a significant force. Its focus on the social world holds promise to make significant inroads in reducing suffering and improving people's everyday lives.