WOMEN'S FRIENDSHIP IN DEPRESSION: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF DEPRESSED AND NON-DEPRESSED FRIENDS (SUBSTANCE ABUSE, FAMILY VIOLENCE).
Contributors: University Of Illinois At Chicago, Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1990
Number of pages: 257
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Women's Studies.
Description: This study used a naturalistic inquiry and lived experience approach to describe the social environment, personal experience, perceptions, meaning, and health benefits of friendship for low-income women who were experiencing depression either in themselves or in their friends. Twenty-four women (12 pairs of friends) were interviewed about their mental health history, and their friendships with women. Each woman completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Acquaintance Description Form. Using methodological triangulation, data were compared both within and among the dyads, and by the presence and acuity of clinical depression.

Participants described friendship in terms of sociality, admiration, and an ethic consisting of beneficence, belonging, and trust. Health benefits included interpersonal growth and the experience of pleasure. In depression, unpredictable moods coupled with abusive family relations restricted the depressed woman's ability to choose to be sociable and to experience pleasure in social relationships, and often led to substance abuse. Lack of empathy and felt obligation to provide social support rather than social activity, strained friendship. Results are discussed in relation to women's health, health promotion, and primary health care.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: B, page: 1356.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1990.

School code: 0806.