Ethnic differences in clinical presentation of depression in adult women.
This study examined ethnic differences in self-report and interviewer-rated depressive symptoms and estimated the contributions of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors in predicting severity of depression. One hundred twenty-five clinically depressed African American (n = 46), Caucasian (n = 36), and Latina (n = 43) women were recruited. After controlling for differences in socioeconomic status, African American women reported more symptoms of distress and Latinas were rated as significantly more depressed than the other groups. However, these ethnic differences were not moderated by either education or employment. Finally, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that severity of depression was predicted by low education, being single, being Latina, high perceived stress, and feelings of hopelessness. Additional research is needed to validate these results and to investigate their clinical significance.
Myers
Hector F
HF
Department of Psychology, UCLA, P.O. Box 951563, Los Angeles, California 90095-1563, USA. myers@psych.ucla.edu
Lesser
Ira
I
Rodriguez
Norma
N
Mira
Consuelo Bingham
CB
Hwang
Wei-Chin
WC
Camp
Christina
C
Anderson
Dora
D
Erickson
Lucy
L
Wohl
Marcy
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology