Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Race and Ethnicity Differences in Reporting of Depressive Symptoms

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our study explored race and ethnicity differences in reporting of symptoms to physicians and other practitioners among respondents to the 1999 National Health Interview Survey who screened positive for depression. Respondents were asked if they had told a doctor or another practitioner (nurse, social worker, psychologist, clergy, other) about their problems. Whites and Hispanics were significantly more likely to communicate with a physician or other practitioner than were African Americans, even with personal characteristics held constant. Practitioners should actively elicit descriptions of feelings and mood, especially with African Americans, and be prepared to treat or refer patients appropriately.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alegría, M., Mulvaney-Day, N., Woo, M., Torres, M, Gao, S., & Oddo, V. (2007). Correlates of past-year mental health service use among Latinos: Results from the national Latino and Asian American study. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 75–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anglin, D. M., Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2006). Racial differences in stigmatizing attitudes toward people with mental illness. Psychiatric Services, 57, 857–862.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Angst, F., Stassen, H. H., Clayton, P. J., & Angst, J. (2002). Mortality of patients with mood disorders: Follow-up over 34–38 years. Journal of Affective Disorders, 68(2–3), 167–181.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bazargan, M., Bazargan-Hejazi, S., & Baker, R. S. (2005). Treatment of self-reported depression among Hispanics and African Americans. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 16, 328–344.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borowsky, S. J., Rubenstein, L. V., Meredith, L. S., Camp, P., Jackson-Triche, M., & Wells, K. B. (2000). Who is at risk of nondetection of mental health problems in primary care? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 15, 381–388.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, L. A., Gonzales, J. J., Gallo, J. J., Rost, K. M., Meredith, L. S., Rubenstein, L. V., Wang, N. Y., & Ford, D. E. (2003). The acceptability of treatment for depression among African–American, Hispanic, and white primary care patients. Medical Care, 41(4), 479–489.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Das, A. K., Olfson, M., McCurtis, H. L., & Weissman, M. M. (2006). Depression in African Americans: Breaking barriers to detection and treatment. Journal of Family Practice, 55, 30–39.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diala, C. C., Muntaner, C., Walrath, C., Nickerson, K., LaVeist, T., & Leaf, P. (2001). Racial/ethnic differences in attitudes toward seeking professional mental health servicesAmerican. Journal of Public Health, 91(5), 805–807.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, J. C., Blank, M., Berman, J., & Rovnyak, V. G. (1999). Mental disorders and help seeking in a rural impoverished population. International Journal of Psychiatry and Medicine, 29(2), 181–195.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gallo, J. J., Bogner, H. R., Morales, K. H., & Ford, D. E. (2005). Patient ethnicity and the identification and active management of depression in late life. Archives of Internal Medicine, 165(17), 1962–1968.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, P. E., Kessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H. G., Leong, S. A., Lowe, S. W., Berglund, P. A., & Corey-Lisle, P. K. (2003). The economic burden of depression in the United States: How did it change between 1990 and 2000? Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64(12), 1465–1475.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hasin, D. S., Goodwin, R. D., Stinson, F. S., & Grant, B. F. (2005). Epidemiology of major depressive disorder: Results from the National epidemiologic survey on alcoholism and related conditions. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(10), 1097–1106.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, F. Y., Chung, H., Kroenke, K., Delucchi, K. L., & Spitzer, R. L. (2006). Using the patient health questionnaire-9 to measure depression among racially and ethnically diverse primary care patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 21, 547–552.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Zhao, S., Nelson, C. B., Hughes, M., Eshleman, S., Wittchen, H. U., & Kendler, K. (1994). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Results from the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51(1), 8–19.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., Rush, A. J., Walters, E. E., & Wang, P. S. (2003). National Comorbidity Survey Replication. The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(23), 3095–3105.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kessler, R. C., Demler, O., Frank, R. G., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., Walters, E. E., Wang, P., Wells, K. B., & Zaslavsky, A. M. (2005). Prevalence and treatment of mental disorders, 1990 to 2003. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(24), 2515–2523.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kilbourne, A. M., Schulberg, H. C., Post, E. P., Rollman, B. L., Belnap, B. H., & Pincus, H. A. (2004). Translating evidence-based depression management services to community-based primary care practices. Milbank Quarterly, 82(4), 631–659.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lang, A. J. (2005). Mental health treatment preferences of primary care patients. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miranda, J., & Cooper, L. A. (2004). Disparities in care for depression among primary care patients. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 19, 120–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miranda, J., Schoenbaum, M., Sherbourne, C., Duan, N., & Wells, K. (2004). Effects of primary care depression treatment on minority patients’ clinical status and employment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61(8), 827–834.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mojtabai, R., & Olfson, M. (2004). Major depression in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults: Prevalence and 2- and 4-year follow-up symptoms. Psychology and Medicine, 34(4), 623–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, C. J. L., & Lopez, A. D. (1997). Global mortality, disability, and the contribution of risk factors: Global burden of disease study. Lancet, 349, 1436–1442.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nutting, P. A., Rost, K., Smith, J., Werner, J. J., & Elliot, C. (2000). Competing demands from physical problems: Effect on initiating and completing depression care over 6 months. Archives of Family Medicine, 9(10), 1059–1064.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Olfson, M., Marcus, S. C., Benjamn, D., Elinson, L., Tanielaian, T., & Pincus, H. A. (2002). National trends in the outpatient treatment of depression. Journal of the American Medical Association, 287, 203–209.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patten, S. B. (1997). Performance of the composite international diagnostic interview short form for major depression in community and clinical samples. Chronic Disease Canada, 18(3), 109–112.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patten, S. B., Stuart, H. L., Russell, M. L., Maxwell, C. J., & Arboleda-Florez, J. (2003). Epidemiology of major depression in a predominantly rural health region. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38(7), 360–365.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patten, S. B., Wang, J. L., Beck, C. A., & Maxwell, C. J. (2005). Measurement issues related to the evaluation and monitoring of major depression prevalence in Canada. Chronic Disease Canada, 26(4), 100–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Regier, D. A., Kaelber, C. T., Rae, D. S., Farmer, M. E., Knauper, B., Kessler, R. C., & Norquist, G. S. (1998). Limitations of diagnostic criteria and assessment instruments for mental disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 109–115.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Revicki, D. A., Siddique, J., Frank, L., Chung, J. Y., Green, B. L., Krupnick, J., Prasad, M., & Miranda, J. (2005). Cost-effectiveness of evidence-based pharmacotherapy or cognitive behavior therapy compared with community referral for major depression in predominantly low-income minority women. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(8), 868–875.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riolo, S. A., Nguyen, T. A., Greden, J. F., & King, C. A. (2005). Prevalence of depression by race/ethnicity: Findings from the national health and nutrition examination survey III. American Journal of Public Health, 95(6), 998–1000.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rost, K., Nutting, P., Smith, J., Coyne, J. C., Cooper-Patrick, L., & Rubenstein, L. (2000). The role of competing demands in the treatment provided primary care patients with major depression. Archives of Family Medicine, 9(2), 150–154.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schoenbaum, M., Miranda, J., Sherbourne, C., Duan, N., & Wells, K. (2004). Cost-effectiveness of interventions for depressed Latinos. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, 7(2), 69–76.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vega, W. A., Kolody, B., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., & Catalano, R. (1999). Gaps in service utilization by Mexican Americans with mental health problems. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 928–934.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, E. E., Kessler, R. C., Nelson, C. B., &.Mroczek, D. (2002). Scoring the World Health Organization’s composite international diagnostic interview short form. Available at: http://www3.who.int/cidi/cidisf.htm. Accessed April 30, 2005.

  • Wang, P. S., Berglund, P., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., Wells, K. B., & Kessler, R. C. (2005a). Failure and delay in initial treatment contact after first onset of mental disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 603–613.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, P. S., Lane, M., Olfson, M., Pincus, H. A., Wells, K. B., & Kessler, R. C. (2005b). Twelve-month use of mental health services in the United States: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 629–640.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • WHO World Mental Health Survey Consortium (2004). Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291, 2581–2590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, D., & Lawler, K. A. (2001). Stress and illness in low-income women: The roles of hardiness, John Henryism, and race. Women and Health, 32(4), 61–75.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research reported here was supported in part by a grant from the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP), Health Resources and Services Administration, USDHHS (Grant No. 6 U1C RH 00045-02. ORHP took no role in the development of the paper, and the opinions expressed are solely those of the authors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Services Policy and Management, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Janice C. Probst & Sarah B. Laditka

  2. Center for Research on Health Care Data Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

    Charity G. Moore

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, SC, USA

    Nusrat Harun

  4. Department of Health Services Administration, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA

    M. Paige Powell

Authors
  1. Janice C. Probst
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sarah B. Laditka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charity G. Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nusrat Harun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M. Paige Powell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janice C. Probst.

Additional information

An early version of this paper was given as a podium presentation at the National Leadership Summit on Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health, Washington DC, January, 2006.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Probst, J.C., Laditka, S.B., Moore, C.G. et al. Race and Ethnicity Differences in Reporting of Depressive Symptoms. Adm Policy Ment Health 34, 519–529 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0136-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-007-0136-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation