title: Are there racial differences in the experience of harmful or traumatic events within psychiatric settings?
abstract: The current study examined racial differences in the reported frequency and distress associated with potentially harmful or traumatic experiences occurring within psychiatric settings. One hundred and forty-two (109 African-American; 32 Caucasian) randomly selected adult consumers recruited from a community psychosocial day program completed a battery of self-report measures to assess experiences in the psychiatric setting, lifetime trauma exposure, PTSD severity, and were the subject of a chart review. A subset of participants (20%) also completed a qualitative interview exploring their perceptions of events occurring in psychiatric settings. Few racial differences were noted in the reported frequency or distress associated with particular events in the psychiatric setting. However, we found differential patterns of association between adverse psychiatric events and lifetime trauma history, and racial differences in diagnosis and medications prescribed by the mental health center. These racial differences merit further attention to better understand their meaning and to improve mental health services provided to both African-Americans and Caucasian public-sector psychiatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB 7590, 725 Martin Luther King, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, USA. kcusack@schsr.unc.edu
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cusack
authors.forename: Anouk L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Grubaugh
authors.forename: Eunsil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: Rebecca G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Knapp
authors.forename: Cynthia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: B Christopher
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Frueh
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003631:Day Care, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013803:Thematic Apperception Test; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs