Page 155 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

122 n DESCRiPTiVE RESEARCh

sufficiently imprecise to ascertain true dif- about causality, treatment, and outcome,
ferences in short- and long-term functioning, the impasse between the two has prevented
D especially given the ongoing gender-related the development of theory and practice that
challenges women face. would serve to reduce the rates and impact
There is little guidance in the research of DD on women. Yet careful examination
literature about what constitutes women- of scholarship and research emerging from
centered treatment for DD, and no effective- both traditions shows overlap in findings.
ness studies of such treatment were detected. For example, both traditions note the cen-
Theorists writing in this area agree that nar- trality of interpersonal distress to women’s
rative therapy informed by feminist prin- identity and how relationship disruption
ciples may be the most fruitful approach to can contribute to DD in women (Brown,
addressing the causes and outcomes of DD 2002; hammen, 2003; hammen et al., 2004;
experienced by women (Gremillion, 2004; Jack, 1991; Ridgeway & Smith-Lovin, 1999).
Lee, 1997; McQuaide, 1999). Such an approach Both theory and practice would be advanced
begins to uncover individual, social, and cul- when women-centered and biomedical per-
tural level gender influences on women who spectives are brought together to under-
are experiencing DD that define their identity stand how DD develops and is maintained
and determine their actions within important in social and cultural systems of inequality
relationships. Therapy then focuses on iden- and how treatment can be directed at the
tity work that results in a new definition of individual, family, social, and cultural level
self and self-in-relationship that contains less to improve outcomes (Stoppard, 1998; Ussher,
rigid boundaries and moral judgments about 2010). Should that occur, women- centered
gender roles and responsibilities. it is instruc- approaches can be designed and tested
tive that the studies focusing on women’s alongside conventional treatments to effect
experience of recovery from DD consistently long-term reduction in the suffering and dis-
report that rejection of gender stereotypes ability experienced by women.
as a model for the self, establishing a new
self-narrative, and improving self-care in the Emily J. Hauenstein
context of a therapy relationship initiated an
ongoing recovery process (Berggren-Clive,
1998; Chen, Wang, Chung, Tseng, & Chou,
2006; Chernomas, 1997; Lafrance & Stoppard, DesCriptive researCh
2006; Peden, 1993; Schreiber, 1998). A few
intervention studies using women-centered
strategies to treat depression in women Descriptive research involves collecting and/
are beginning to appear in the literature or analyzing data to characterize a group,
(Laitinen & Ettorre, 2004; Ussher, hunter, & concept, or phenomenon. it can use quan-
Cariss, 2002) but significant work is required titative or qualitative (including naturalis-
to establish evidence that women-centered tic) methodologies. Quantitative descriptive
interventions contribute to the long-term methodologies include surveys, measure-
well-being for women. ment tools, chart or record reviews, physio-
Women-centered models of DD are based logical measurements, meta-analyses, and
on different epistemologies and use different secondary data analyses. Qualitative descrip-
methodological approaches to interpret the tive methodologies include interviews, focus
manifestations and outcomes of DD. With groups, content analyses, reviews of liter-
women-centered understandings of DD posi- ature, observational studies, case studies,
tioned in opposition of the biomedical model life histories, grounded theory studies, con-
and the latter dominating extant research cept analyses, ethnographic studies, and