Uses data on both region and country of birth for black immigrants in the United States and methodology that allows for the identification of arrival cohorts to test whether there are sending country differences in the health of black adults in the United States. Results show that African immigrants maintain their health advantage over U.S.-born black adults after more than 20 years in the United States. In contrast, black immigrants from the Caribbean who have been in the United States for more than 20 years appear to experience some downward health assimilation.
Objective: To describe the rates of mood disorders, the social and demographic correlates of mood disorders, and mental health services utilization among African American, Caribbean black, and non-Hispanic white mothers. Method: Study data were collected between February 2001 and June 2003 as part of the National Survey of American Life: Coping With Stress in the 21st Century. National household probability samples of African Americans and Caribbean blacks were surveyed using a slightly modified World Mental Health version of the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Participants included 2,019 African American, 799 Caribbean black, and 400 non-Hispanic white mothers 18 years and older (N = 3,218). The main outcomes measured were lifetime and 12-month diagnoses of DSM-IV mood disorders (major depressive episode, dysthymic disorder, bipolar I and II disorders) and mental health services utilization. Results:The lifetime prevalence estimate of mood disorders is higher for white mothers (21.67%) than for African American mothers (16.77%) and Caribbean black mothers (16.42%); however, 12-month mood disorder estimates are similar across groups. African American mothers have higher 12-month prevalence estimates of bipolar disorder (2.48%) than white mothers (0.59%) and Caribbean black mothers (1.16%). African American mothers with higher education levels and white mothers who became parents as teenagers are more likely to have a lifetime mood disorder. Less than half (45.8%) of black mothers with a past 12-month mood disorder diagnosis utilized mental health services. Among black mothers with a 12-month diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Caribbean blacks utilized mental health services at higher rates than African Americans. Conclusions: Demographic correlates for mood disorders varied by race and ethnicity. The findings illustrated underutilization of treatment by black mothers, especially African American mothers with bipolar disorder.
Taylor,Robert Joseph (Author), Woodward,Amanda Toler (Author), Chatters,Linda M. (Author), Mattis,Jacqueline S. (Author), and Jackson,James S. (Author)
Format:
Journal Article
Publication Date:
2011
Published:
Netherlands: Springer, Dordrecht The Netherlands
Location:
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Examines use of clergy for serious personal problems within a representative sample of US black Caribbean adults from the National Survey of American Life. Findings for black Caribbeans indicate similarities, as well as important departures from prior research on the correlates of clergy assistance among African Americans.
