Silently Screaming in the Dark: Gender-Based Dynamics of Distress in Japanese Migrants.
Courtney Julia Burns, Denise Marie Saint Arnault
PMID 32644835WHAT IT FOUND
Highly distressed Japanese immigrant women described feeling unable to ask for help because shame, gossip, and community scrutiny could disgrace their family.
For nurses, the paper suggests assessing cultural beliefs about distress and avoiding local community members as translators or counselors.
Key findings
01The theoretical model presents five concepts and sixteen subconcepts.
02The model links the subconcepts to distress outcomes of depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, and loneliness.
03Social hesitancy, including distance from others and gossip, was related to an inability to reach out for help.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The findings came from 25 interviews with highly distressed Japanese immigrant women from one community, so they are not a pattern for all Japanese or Asian immigrant women. The analysis was secondary and could not use theoretical sampling, so the researchers could not recruit new participants to refine emerging concepts. The paper says the causal model may not be transferable to other Asian immigrant women. No intervention was tested, so the paper cannot show that cultural assessment or avoiding community translators improves care.
Declared interests
The parent study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. The paper does not report a conflict of interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that a fixed cultural model explains all Japanese immigrant women or that avoiding community translators improves care. The study interviewed 25 highly distressed women from one community and did not test any nursing intervention.