. . .interpersonal disagreements [in families]. . .arise between those who adhere to the traditions of the indigenous Arab culture in Kuwait and those who accept the more liberal attitudes conveyed by Western culture. (p.109)

The authors state that the greater the degree of family conflict over the female role, the greater the likelihood that family females would suffer from depressive illness. What is needed in order to understand these findings is a model that explains how conflict over role can lead to depressive illness.

Depressive Illness and Female Role in Kuwaiti Society: An Explanative Model

Al-Thakeb (1985) has reported that the traditional role of the Kuwait female is one in which she is under the authority of both her parents and her husband. Identifying with her strong family and kinship ties, the traditionally oriented female allows her parents to select her husband who, after marriage, has dominion over the decisions that shape both his life, her life, and their children's lives.

This notion of the traditional role is echoed by El-Islam (1983) who reports that:

. . .in Arabian culture a hierarchial order is maintained in the family in which the dominance of the male over female and o

(3) Giving sons more freedom than daughters.

Locus of control (the extent to which one believes that the cause of their life circumstances is due to internal qualities, traits, or attributes or to external agents such as fate, luck, or significant others) has repeatedly been found to be associated with depressive illness. This point has been made by Davison and Neale (1982) who state that locus of control interacts with an individual's desired outcomes (e.g. such as receiving social reinforcement from one's family) such that:

In addition to tests of the study's research hypotheses, a number of subsidiary tests will be conducted in an effort to better understand findings overall. These subsidiary hypotheses will consist of the comparisons of all dependent measures (stress, locus of control, and depression) at both levels of Role Attitude as well as computations of correlations between all collected measures.

(4) The belief that parents have a right to arrange marriages for children of both sexes.

lder over younger is observed. The family offers security to its members in return for behavior that is harmonious with the cultural code. (El-Islam, 1983, p.321)

Approximately 40 females will serve as subjects in the study; 20 of these will be females who identify with the more liberal, Western notions of female role and 20 will be females who identify with the more traditional Middle Eastern notions of female role.

El-Islam, M.F., Malasi, T.H. & Abu-Dagga, S.I. (1988). Interparental differences in attitudes to cultural changes in Kuwait. Socia