Prevalence of anxiety and depressive illness and help seeking behaviour in African Caribbeans and white Europeans: two phase general population survey   Commentary: Counting heads may mask cultural and social factors

Abstract

Objective To determine the prevalence of common mental disorders (anxiety and depression) and help seeking behaviour in African Caribbeans and white Europeans. Design Two phase survey in a general population sample. The first phase comprised screening with the 12 item general health questionnaire; the second phase was standardised psychiatric assessment and interview about help seeking. Setting People registered with four general practices in central Manchester. Participants Of 1467 people randomly selected from family health services authority lists, 864 were still resident. 337 African Caribbeans and 275 white Europeans completed the screening phase (response rate 71%); 127 African Caribbeans and 103 white Europeans were interviewed in the second phase. Main outcome measures One month period prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders in each ethnic group. Results 13% of African Caribbeans (95% confidence interval 10% to 16%) and 14% (10% to 18%) of white Europeans had one or more disorder. Anxiety disorders were significantly less common among African Caribbeans (3% (1% to 5%) v 9% (6% to 12%) in white Europeans). Depressive disorders were significantly more common among African Caribbean women than white women (difference 8% (1% to 15%)). Medical help seeking was similar in the two groups, but African Caribbeans with mental disorders were more likely to seek additional help from non-medical sources (12/29 v 5/29, P = 0.082). Conclusions In an inner city setting the prevalence of common mental disorders is similar in these two ethnic groups.

Envy As Pain: Rethinking the Nature of Envy and Its Implications for Employees and Organizations

“…A similar orientation emerges among employees with low selfefficacy (Gist & Mitchell, 1992) and those who are externally rather than internally controlled (Weiss & Sherman, 1973). In addition, for employees high in neuroticism, negative feedback is a source of stress and anxiety (Muris, Roelofs, Rassin, Franken, & Mayer, 2005;Shaw, Creed, Tomenson, Riste, & Cruickshank, 1999). Ultimately, for employees who are not challenge oriented and who may be somewhat threat oriented, equity is restored primarily through decreased rather than increased contribution.…”

Seeking informal and formal help for mental health problems in the community: a secondary analysis from a psychiatric morbidity survey in South London

“…Sociodemographic characteristics are also associated with help-seeking, with men more reluctant than women to seek formal help [18]. Ethnic differences have also been found with Asians tending to present less frequently in primary care settings even when controlling for severity [18] and GPs being less good at detecting the mental health problems of black Caribbean people [20]. People with diagnoses of depression have been found to be most likely to seek formal help compared with other mental disorders [18].…”

Profiles of depressive symptoms among African Americans and Caribbean Blacks

“…Studies conducted in England reported higher depressive symptoms (Nazroo, 1997) and depressive disorders (Shaw et al, 1999) among Caribbean immigrants compared to the general population. A study examining depression rates among Black women in the Washington, DC area found lower rates of depression among Caribbean-born women compared to their U.S.-born counterparts (Miranda, Siddique, Belin, & Kohn-Wood, 2005).…”

“…Finally, a national study that included a small sample of Caribbean Blacks found that they reported higher levels of stress and psychological distress than native-born Blacks . Unfortunately, findings from these studies have limited generalizability to Blacks in the U.S. due to small sample sizes and a focus on specific geographic locations (Miranda et al, 2005) and international (foreign) contexts (Nazroo, 1997;Shaw et al, 1999).…”