Summary
This study was done in Goa, India, to measure symptom prevalence as it related to sociocultural integration in two groups, Christians and Hindus, representing two different levels of exposure to change. From 1510 until 1961, Goa remained under the Portuguese and part of the originally Hindu population converted to Christianity. While all could speak the native Konkani, the Portuguese language and Latin European culture penetrated the two groups to varying extent, more deeply among Christians. In 1961, the Portuguese rule in Goa was suddenly terminated after an Indian military action lasting less than 24 hrs. Since then, Goa has been exposed to the sudden decline in the status of the Portuguese language and of Latin European culture.
Goa provided a unique opportunity to study the relationships between integration and symptom prevalence in two groups having similar socioeconomic status and sharing similar dominant sentiments but exposed to different implications of the same change. Social data, data on health status and on symptoms were collected through interviews in Portuguese and Kankani. In each group, symptom prevalence was directly related to private religiousness and inversely related to public religiousness, the latter being taken as an indicator of integration. The results suggest that public health planning for exposure to change should take into account not only the rate of change but also the quality of change. The conclusions of this study are tentative.
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Dr. de Figueiredo is a resident in psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Lemkau is Professor of Mental Hygiene at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
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de Figueiredo, J.M., Lemkau, P.V. The prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms in a rapidly changing bilingual culture: An exploratory study. Soc Psychiatry 13, 125–133 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00579326
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00579326