The impact of client race on clinician detection of eating disorders.
Eating disorders are thought to occur less among African-American women than among women of other ethnic groups. Ninety-one clinicians read 1 of 3 passages (differing only with regards to the girl's race: African-American, Caucasian, or Hispanic) describing disturbed eating patterns of a fictional character named Mary. Participants were then asked to indicate if they thought Mary had a problem and to rate her anxiety, depression, and eating disorder symptoms based upon the passage they had read. The results suggest that clinicians may have race-based stereotypes about eating disorders that could impede their detection of symptoms in African-American girls.
Gordon
Kathryn H
KH
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270, USA.
Brattole
Marissa M
MM
Wingate
Laricka R
LR
Joiner
Thomas E
TE
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data