Perception of racial discrimination and psychopathology across three U.S. ethnic minority groups

Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2012 Jan;18(1):74-81. doi: 10.1037/a0025432. Epub 2011 Oct 3.

Abstract

To examine the association between the perception of racial discrimination and the lifetime prevalence rates of psychological disorders in the three most common ethnic minorities in the United States, we analyzed data from a sample consisting of 793 Asian Americans, 951 Hispanic Americans, and 2,795 African Americans who received the Composite International Diagnostic Interview through the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies. The perception of racial discrimination was associated with the endorsement of major depressive disorder, panic disorder with agoraphobia, agoraphobia without history of panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use disorders in varying degrees among the three minority groups, independent of the socioeconomic status, level of education, age, and gender of participants. The results suggest that the perception of racial discrimination is associated with psychopathology in the three most common U.S. minority groups.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Agoraphobia / psychology
  • Asian / psychology
  • Black or African American / psychology
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology
  • Ethnicity / psychology*
  • Female
  • Hispanic or Latino / psychology
  • Humans
  • Interview, Psychological
  • Male
  • Mental Disorders / ethnology*
  • Mental Disorders / psychology
  • Minority Groups / psychology*
  • Panic Disorder / psychology
  • Prejudice*
  • Social Perception*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Substance-Related Disorders / psychology
  • United States