Racial/ethnic variation in trauma-related psychopathology in the United States: a population-based study (original) (raw)
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Journal of Traumatic Stress, 2012
Urban, socially disadvantaged individuals are at high risk for traumatic event exposure and its subsequent psychiatric symptomatology. This study examined the association between race/ ethnicity and symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and depression in an urban clinical sample of 170 trauma-exposed adults. In addition, this study investigated the role of socioeconomic position (SEP) and coping style in the relationship between race/ethnicity and posttrauma psychiatric symptom severity. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that Blacks had lower depression symptom severity compared to Whites. No significant relationship was found between racial/ethnic group status and indices of SEP, PTSD, or GAD symptom severity. Adjustment for trauma exposure, gender, positive reframe coping, avoidance coping and negative coping accounted for 3%, 3%, 8%, 4%, and 3% of the variance in depression severity, respectively; however, Black race remained significantly associated with decreased depression symptom severity accounting for a statistically significant 5% of the variance in lower depression symptom severity. These preliminary findings and their clinical implications are discussed.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Ethnoracial Minorities in the United States
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2008
Because ethnoracial minorities are a growing part of the U.S. population yet are underrepresented in the psychopathology literature, we reviewed the evidence for differences in prevalence and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, and American Indians. With respect to prevalence, Latinos were most consistently found to have higher PTSD rates than their European American counterparts. Other groups also showed differences that were mostly explained by differences in trauma exposure. Many prevalence rates were varied by subgroup within the larger ethnoracial group, thereby limiting broad generalizations about group differences. Regarding service utilization, some studies of veterans found lower utilization among some minority groups, but community-based epidemiological studies following a traumatic event found no differences. Finally, in terms of treatment, the literature contained many recommendations for culturally sensitive interventions but little empirical evidence supporting or refuting such treatments. Taken together, the literature hints at many important sources of ethnoracial variation but raises more questions than it has answered. The article ends with recommendations to advance work in this important area.
Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2010
The study's aims are to explore ethnic differences in rates of adverse childhood experiences and lifetime traumatic events and in rates of psychiatric disorders for patients exposed to similar traumas. Rates of these events and rates of major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress, substance use, and borderline personality disorders were compared among 506 non-Hispanic Whites (N-HW), 108 Latina(o)s, and 94 African Americans (AA) participating in the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorder Study. We found that Whites reported higher rates of neglect than African Americans and Latina(o)s, higher rates of verbal/emotional abuse than African Americans, and higher rates of accidents and injuries/feared serious injury than Latina(o)s. African Americans had higher rates of seeing someone injured/killed than Whites. No significant interaction was observed between adverse events and ethnicity for mental disorders.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Trauma Exposure and Mental Health Disorders in Adolescents
Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology, 2016
Objective: Research has cited increased prevalence of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and exposure to interpersonal violence for Hispanics and non-Hispanic Black adolescents, as well as ethnic differences in externalizing behavior (e.g., substance use, delinquency). The current study combined these areas by examining racial/ethnic differences in mental health correlates of trauma exposure. Method: Interviews were conducted to assess polyvictimization, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), substance use, and delinquency in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 3,614; 15.4% non-Hispanic Black; 11.3% Hispanic; 64.9% non-Hispanic White). Results: Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black adolescents endorsed greater polyvictimization than non-Hispanic Whites; however, differences in MDD and PTSD were only significant when assessed with symptom counts. Non-Hispanic Black adolescents reported the least drug use. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic ad...
Psychological Medicine, 2022
Background Racial and ethnic groups in the USA differ in the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent research however has not observed consistent racial/ethnic differences in posttraumatic stress in the early aftermath of trauma, suggesting that such differences in chronic PTSD rates may be related to differences in recovery over time. Methods As part of the multisite, longitudinal AURORA study, we investigated racial/ethnic differences in PTSD and related outcomes within 3 months after trauma. Participants (n = 930) were recruited from emergency departments across the USA and provided periodic (2 weeks, 8 weeks, and 3 months after trauma) self-report assessments of PTSD, depression, dissociation, anxiety, and resilience. Linear models were completed to investigate racial/ethnic differences in posttraumatic dysfunction with subsequent follow-up models assessing potential effects of prior life stressors. Results Racial/ethnic groups did not differ in symptoms over ...
American Psychologist, 2019
Research has suggested that African American and Latino adults may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at higher rates than White adults, and that the clinical course of PTSD in these minority groups is poor. One factor that may contribute to higher prevalence and poorer outcome in these groups are sociocultural factors and racial stressors, such as experiences with discrimination. To date, however, no research has explored the relationship between experiences with discrimination and risk for PTSD, and very little research has examined the course of illness for PTSD in African Americans and Latino samples. The present study examined these variables in the only longitudinal clinical sample of 139 Latino and 152 African American adults with anxiety disorders, the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Research Project-Phase II (HARP-II). Over 5 years of follow-up, remission rates for African Americans and Latinos with PTSD in this sample were 0.35 and 0.15 respectively, and reported frequency of experiences with discrimination significantly predicted PTSD diagnostic status in this sample, but did not predict any other anxiety or mood disorder. These findings demonstrate the chronic course of PTSD in African American and Latino adults, and highlight the important role that racial and ethnic discrimination may play in the development of PTSD among these populations. Implications for an increased focus on these sociocultural stressors in the assessment and treatment of PTSD in African American and Latino individuals are discussed.
Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy, 2015
This study examined the utility of a lifetime cumulative adversities and trauma model in predicting the severity of mental health symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. We also tested whether ethnicity and gender moderate the effects of this stress exposure construct on mental health using multigroup structural equation modeling. A sample of 500 low-socioeconomic status African American and Latino men and women with histories of adversities and trauma were recruited and assessed with a standard battery of self-report measures of stress and mental health. Multiple-group structural equation models indicated good overall model fit. As hypothesized, experiences of discrimination, childhood family adversities, childhood sexual abuse, other childhood trauma, and chronic stresses all loaded on the latent cumulative burden of adversities and trauma construct (CBAT). The CBAT stress exposure index in turn predicted the mental health status latent variable. Althou...
Objective: Trauma exposure is high in African Americans who live in stressful urban environments. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression are common outcomes of trauma exposure and are understudied in African Americans. African Americans are more likely to seek treatment for psychiatrc disorders in a primary care setting. Our study evaluated trauma exposure, PTSD and major depression in African Americans attending primary care offices.
Ethnicity and Risk for Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Following Intimate Partner Violence
Journal of interpersonal violence, 2009
The present study uses a feminist theoretical framework to explore risk factors for the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms following intimate partner violence, with a community sample of 120 low-income European American and African American women. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine demographic, violence, and mental health variables that predict posttraumatic stress symptoms. The data reveal that African American women report lower levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms than do their European American peers. This difference was observed despite the presence of more empirically identified risk factors for African American women. Regression analyses show that symptoms of depression increase risk for posttraumatic stress for both groups. However, a difference was observed such that past victimization increase risk for only European American women, whereas amount of psychological violence in the previous year increases risk for only African American women. Potential explanations for observed ethnic differences are offered.