This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (49)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Psychiatry  • Depression  • Psychiatry, Other  • Public Health  • World Health  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Results From the National Survey of American Life

David R. Williams, PhD; Hector M. González, PhD; Harold Neighbors, PhD; Randolph Nesse, MD; Jamie M. Abelson, MSW; Julie Sweetman, MS; James S. Jackson, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64(3):305-315.

Context  Little is known about the relationship between race/ethnicity and depression among US blacks.

Objective  To estimate the prevalence, persistence, treatment, and disability of depression in African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites in the National Survey of American Life.

Design  A slightly modified adaptation of the World Health Organization World Mental Health version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

Setting  National household probability samples of noninstitutionalized African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites in the United States conducted between February 2, 2001, and June 30, 2003.

Participants  A total of 3570 African Americans, 1621 Caribbean blacks, and 891 non-Hispanic whites aged 18 years and older (N = 6082).

Main Outcome Measures  Lifetime and 12-month diagnoses of DSM-IV major depressive disorder (MDD), 12-month mental health services use, and MDD disability as quantified using the Sheehan Disability Scale and the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule II.

Results  Lifetime MDD prevalence estimates were highest for whites (17.9%), followed by Caribbean blacks (12.9%) and African Americans (10.4%); however, 12-month MDD estimates across groups were similar. The chronicity of MDD was higher for both black groups (56.5% for African Americans and 56.0% for Caribbean blacks) than for whites (38.6%). Fewer than half of the African Americans (45.0%) and fewer than a quarter (24.3%) of the Caribbean blacks who met the criteria received any form of MDD therapy. In addition, relative to whites, both black groups were more likely to rate their MDD as severe or very severe and more disabling.

Conclusions  When MDD affects African Americans and Caribbean blacks, it is usually untreated and is more severe and disabling compared with that in non-Hispanic whites. The burden of mental disorders, especially depressive disorders, may be higher among US blacks than in US whites.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Sociology (Dr Williams), Epidemiology (Dr Williams), Psychiatry (Dr Nesse), and Psychology (Dr Jackson), Institute for Social Research (Drs Williams and Jackson and Mss Abelson and Sweetman), and Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health (Dr Neighbors), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Institute of Gerontology and Department of Family Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich (Dr González). Dr Williams is currently at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Predictors of Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress and Depression in Family Members After Patient Death in the ICU
Gries et al.
Chest 2010;137:280-287.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Depression Care in the United States: Too Little for Too Few
Gonzalez et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2010;67:37-46.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Depressive Symptoms in Nonresident African American Fathers and Involvement With Their Sons
Davis et al.
Pediatrics 2009;124:1611-1618.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Race-Ethnicity as a Predictor of Attitudes Toward Mental Health Treatment Seeking
Shim et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2009;60:1336-1341.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Organizational Religious Behavior Among Older African Americans: Findings From the National Survey of American Life
Taylor et al.
Research on Aging 2009;31:440-462.
ABSTRACT  

Mental Health of Children of Low-Income Depressed Mothers: Influences of Parenting, Family Environment, and Raters
Riley et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2009;60:329-336.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prejudice and the medical profession: a five-year update.
Clark
J Law Med Ethics 2009;37:118-133.
 

Use of Professional and Informal Support by African Americans and Caribbean Blacks With Mental Disorders
Woodward et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2008;59:1292-1298.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Burden of Mental Disorders
Eaton et al.
Epidemiol Rev 2008;30:1-14.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Antidepressant Use in Black and White Populations in the United States
Gonzalez et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2008;59:1131-1138.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Mental Health in the Context of Health Disparities
Miranda et al.
Am. J. Psychiatry 2008;165:1102-1108.
FULL TEXT  

New Evidence Regarding Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Mental Health: Policy Implications
McGuire and Miranda
Health Aff (Millwood) 2008;27:393-403.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Higher Burden of Depression Among Older Women: The Effect of Onset, Persistence, and Mortality Over Time
Barry et al.
Arch Gen Psychiatry 2008;65:172-178.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Measuring Trends in Mental Health Care Disparities, 2000 2004
Cook et al.
Psychiatr. Serv. 2007;58:1533-1540.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Insurance Expansions: Do They Hurt Those They Are Designed To Help?
Richman
Health Aff (Millwood) 2007;26:1345-1357.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Commentary: Race and mental health more questions than answers
Williams and Earl
Int J Epidemiol 2007;36:758-760.
FULL TEXT