title: Risk factors and the prevalence of neurosis and psychosis in ethnic groups in Great Britain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our aim was to examine whether variations in the prevalence of neurosis and psychosis between ethnic minorities throughout Great Britain are explained by social disadvantage.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 10,108 adult householders throughout Great Britain were assessed in a two-stage survey with the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R) and Psychosis Screening Questionnaire (PSQ). Respondents with a positive PSQ or who received a diagnosis of, or treatment for, psychosis were examined by a psychiatrist using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Data on respondents' preferred ethnic group were collapsed into four groups: Whites, African-Caribbean or Africans, south Asians and other.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ethnic grouping was strongly associated with: unemployment; lone parent status; lower social class; low perceived social support; poverty (indicated by lack of car ownership) and having a primary social support group of less than three close others. All these associations applied to the group Africans and Afro-Caribbeans, but only some applied to the other groups. No ethnic group had significantly increased rates of neurosis. Only the African-Caribbean group were at significantly increased risk of a psychotic disorder (odds ratio 4.55; 95% CI: 1.13, 18.30). After adjustment for risk factors, the odds of psychosis were lower (odds ratio 2.97; 95% CI: 0.66, 13.36).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The excess of psychosis in Africans and Afro-Caribbeans in Great Britain appears to be partly explained by socio-economic disadvantage, but larger studies are needed to confirm this.
authors.affiliation: University of Leicester, Section of Social and Epidemiological Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, Brandon Mental Health Unit, Leicester General Hospital, Gwendolen Road, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK.
authors.forename: Traolach
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brugha
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bebbington
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meltzer
authors.forename: Glyn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000208:ethnology; D011610:Psychosocial Deprivation; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom