Emotional Coping, Paternal Support, and Family Relationships among Generation Z Women in Urban Pakistan

Abstract

Studies of the mental health of South Asian women have largely focused on diasporic populations and been lacking in qualitative research in the context of rapidly evolving urban South Asia. The aim of this study was to explore the experience of emotional distress among young women living in Karachi, Pakistan, as well as to whom these women seek support. Thirteen semi-structured developmental interviews were transcribed from undergraduate psychology students, who were unmarried, and these were analysed reflexively using this approach. Three themes were derived. First, participants always controlled distress internally, crying, withdrawing to sleep, and rumination, describing self-containment as competence and not a deficit. Second, the findings challenge the literature portraying mothers as the first choice of confidante for daughters, with a considerable number of respondents describing the father as being the closest and most trustworthy emotional resource, an image of him as a logical, calm listener. Third, the participants talked about autonomy as the autonomy within family belonging, not as opposition to it, and how they felt they had control over their own decisions, but were still part of a larger group. Results expand the scope of the self-silencing theory to a non-diasporic setting in Pakistan and highlight an under-researched aspect of family life – paternal confiding. Implications for culturally responsive clinical practice are discussed.