Self-Disclosure among Men and Women of Arab Descent: Implications for Group-Based Health Education

Arab American gender norms may affect female participation in group-delivered health education settings. Our objective was to examine gender-specific participation in Arab American group interactions. This study was conducted to inform the necessity of gender-specific groups in a subsequent diabetes prevention intervention. Self-identified Arabs or Arab Americans ≥ 30 years and without diabetes were randomly recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to male-only, female-only, or mixed-gender focus groups. A trained Arabic-speaking moderator facilitated 90-minute sessions using a standardized guide. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. A self-disclosure survey immediately followed sessions. Turn-taking, verbosity, and survey responses were compared between males and females in gender-specific and mixed-gender group settings. Twenty-nine individuals participated: male-only (8), female-only (12), and mixed-gender (9). Males took more turns and spoke with more utterances than females during gender-specific and mixed-gender groups. Fewer men reported keeping comments to themselves relative to women. Group-formatted educational interventions in Arab Americans should take self-disclosure into consideration and efforts should be made to identify females who prefer participating in a gender-specific group.