A cross-cultural examination of pleasant events and depressive symptoms.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES\nTo examine the associations between pleasant or reinforcing activities (as they relate to the behavioral theory of depression) and depressive symptoms across cultures.\n\n\nMETHODS\nWe tested for differences in the strength of association between pleasant events and depressive symptoms in probability samples of adults from the United States (N\u2009=\u2009619) and Japan (N\u2009=\u2009232).\n\n\nRESULTS\nResults indicate that frequency, enjoyment, and obtained pleasure from pleasant events were significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptoms for both American and Japanese adults, and these associations were significantly greater in magnitude for American adults relative to Japanese adults.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nFindings suggest that there is a cross-sectional association between pleasant events and depressive symptoms in both the United States and Japan, and that this association is stronger in the United States.