The associations between socio-economic status and major depressive disorder among Blacks, Latinos, Asians and non-Hispanic Whites: findings from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies.
BACKGROUND
This study examined whether there were associations between individual measures of socio-economic status (SES) and the 12-month prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) in representative samples of Blacks, Latinos, Asians and Whites in the USA.


METHODS
The data used were from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES).


RESULTS
There was an association between household income and MDD among Whites. However, the association was not statistically significant. Statistically significant associations were present between educational attainment and MDD among Whites. Among both Whites and Latinos, being out of the labor force was significantly associated with MDD. In analyses by nativity, being out of the labor force was significantly associated with MDD among US-born and foreign-born Latinos.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant associations between various measures of SES and MDD were consistently observed among White and, in some cases, Latino populations. Future studies should continue to examine sociopsychological factors related to SES that increase the risk of MDD among people from racial-ethnic communities.
Gavin
A R
AR
School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105-6299, USA. gavina@u.washington.edu
Walton
E
E
Chae
D H
DH
Alegria
M
M
Jackson
J S
JS
Takeuchi
D
D
D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001741:Black or African American