Seasonal variation in mood in African American college students in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.
OBJECTIVE
The authors attempted to estimate the occurrence, frequency, and pattern (winter versus summer) of seasonal affective disorder in African American college students. They hypothesized that winter seasonal affective disorder would be more prevalent than summer seasonal affective disorder.


METHODS
Undergraduate and graduate college students who identified themselves as African Americans living in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area were invited to participate in the study. The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire was used to calculate a global seasonality score and to estimate the frequency of seasonal affective disorder and subsyndromal seasonal affective disorder. The frequency of the summer versus winter pattern of seasonality of seasonal affective disorder was compared by using multinomial probability distribution tests. The effects of gender and the awareness of seasonal affective disorder were evaluated with a two-way analysis of variance.


RESULTS
Of 646 students who were invited to participate, 597 returned the questionnaires, and 537 (83.1%) fully completed them. Winter seasonal affective disorder was significantly more prevalent than summer seasonal affective disorder. The mean global seasonality score was 8.3 (SD=5.3). The majority of the subjects (80%) were not aware of the existence of seasonal affective disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors found that the frequency, magnitude, and pattern of seasonality of mood in African American students were similar to those previously reported in the general population at similar latitude, but that awareness of the existence of seasonal affective disorder, a condition with safe and effective treatment options, was lower.
Agumadu
Charles O
CO
D.C. Department of Mental Health, Washington, D.C., USA.
Yousufi
Samina M
SM
Malik
Irum S
IS
Nguyen
Minh-Chau T
MC
Jackson
Michael A
MA
Soleymani
Kambiz
K
Thrower
Courtney M
CM
Peterman
Michelle J
MJ
Walters
Gene W
GW
Niemtzoff
Mariana J
MJ
Bartko
John J
JJ
Postolache
Teodor T
TT
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D016574:Seasonal Affective Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population