Abstract:

A health questionnaire, which included a 91 item list of symptoms was administered to three groups of young Samoan adults. These young adults resided in a traditional Samoan village in Western Samoa (n=50), several villages in modernizing American Samoa (n=50) and in urban Honolulu, Hawaii (n=52). Each yes response to a symptom was followed by an expanded interview providing details. The yes answer frequency and the contents of the expanded answers were examined with respect to site of residence. Western Samoan responses differed from the other sites in a number of areas suggesting possible differences related to the process of modernization. These response differences suggest four areas in which the stressors of modernization may have health influences: (1) wage employment outside of the family, (2) increased size of support networks by including non-family members and non-Samoans (3) the greater availability of alcohol, and (4) changes in the perceptions of food.