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Anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders in United States African-American public housing residents

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Abstract

Background

African-Americans experience considerable mental healthcare disparities in the United States, but little is known about sensitive subgroups within this population. To better understand healthcare disparities within African-Americans communities, we characterized anxiety, mood, and substance use disorder prevalence and associated service utilization among public and non-public housing residents.

Methods

We used data from a nationally representative sample of African-Americans recruited as part of the National Survey of American Life.

Results

In public housing residents, the 12-month prevalence of anxiety disorders was 1.8 times higher than in non-public housing residents (P = 0.002), mood disorders was 1.4 times higher (P = 0.189), and substance use disorders was 2.2 times higher (P = 0.031). Public housing remained associated with mental illness after controlling for sociodemographics and chronic illness. Public and non-public housing residents did not differ significantly in mental healthcare utilization, but utilization was low with 16–30% of public housing residents with a 12-month disorder receiving mental health assistance.

Conclusions

A relatively high proportion of African-American public housing residents suffered from psychiatric disorders, and few received mental healthcare assistance, indicating that further work is needed to enhance utilization.

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Acknowledgments

These analyses and subsequent research report were supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) (TL1RR024135 to A. Simning; principal investigator Thomas Pearson), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the NCRR or NIH. Information on the NCRR is available at http://www.ncrr.nih.gov/. Information on Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise can be obtained from http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/clinicalresearch/overview-translational.asp.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest to report.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD), 601 Elmwood Avenue, Box 644, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Adam Simning & Edwin van Wijngaarden

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD), 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA

    Yeates Conwell

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  1. Adam Simning
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  2. Edwin van Wijngaarden
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Correspondence to Adam Simning.

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Simning, A., van Wijngaarden, E. & Conwell, Y. Anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders in United States African-American public housing residents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 46, 983–992 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0267-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-010-0267-2

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