Abstract
Introduction
This study investigated co-morbidities, level of disability, service utilization and demographic correlates of panic disorder (PD) among African Americans, Caribbean blacks and non-Hispanic white Americans.
Methods
Data are from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) and the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R).
Results
Non-Hispanic whites are the most likely to develop PD across the lifespan compared to the black subgroups. Caribbean blacks were found to experience higher levels of functional impairment. There were no gender differences found in prevalence of PD in Caribbean blacks, indicating that existing knowledge about who is at risk for developing PD (generally more prevalent in women) may not be true among this subpopulation. Furthermore, Caribbean blacks with PD were least likely to use mental health services compared to African Americans and non-Hispanic whites.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that PD may affect black ethnic subgroups differently, which has important implications for understanding the nature and etiology of the disorder.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (2000) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR. American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., Arlington
Robins LN, Regier DA (1991) Psychiatric disorders in America: the epidemiologic catchment area study. Free Press, New York
Brown TA, Campbell LA, Lehman CL, Grisham JR, Mancill RB (2001) Current and lifetime comorbidity of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders in a large clinical sample. J Abnorm Psychol 110(4):585
Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, Walters EE (2005) Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry 62(6):593
Markowitz JS, Weissman MM, Ouellette R, Lish JD, Klerman GL (1989) Quality of life in panic disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 46(11):984
Weissman MM (1991) Panic disorder: impact on quality of life. J Clin Psychiatry 52:6–8
Simon NM, Otto MW, Korbly NB, Peters PM, Nicolaou DC, Pollack MH (2002) Quality of life in social anxiety disorder compared with panic disorder and the general population. Psychiatr Serv 53(2):714–718
Birchall H, Brandon S, Taub N (2000) Panic in a general practice population: prevalence, psychiatric comorbidity and associated disability. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 35(6):235–241. doi:10.1007/s001270050233
Barrera TL, Norton PJ (2009) Quality of life impairment in generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, and panic disorder. J Anxiety Disord 23(8):1086–1090
Katon W (1996) Panic disorder: relationship to high medical utilization, unexplained physical symptoms, and medical costs. J Clin Psychiatry 57(Suppl 10):11–18 discussion 19–22
Wagner JA, Pietrzak RH, Petry NM (2008) Psychiatric disorders are associated with hospital care utilization in persons with hypertension: results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on alcohol and related conditions. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 43(11):878–888. doi:10.1007/s00127-008-0377-2
Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE (2005) Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry 62(6):617
Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Jin R, Ruscio AM, Shear K, Walters EE (2006) The epidemiology of panic attacks, panic disorder, and agoraphobia in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63(4):415
Breslau J, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Kendler KS, Su M, Williams DR, Kessler RC (2006) Specifying race-ethnic differences in risk for psychiatric disorder in a USA national sample. Psychol Med 36(1):57–68
Himle JA, Baser RE, Taylor RJ, Campbell RD, Jackson JS (2009) Anxiety disorders among African Americans, blacks of Caribbean descent, and non-Hispanic whites in the United States. J Anxiety Disord 23(5):578–590
Williams DR, Harris-Reid M (1999) Race and mental health: emerging patterns and promising approaches. In: Horwitz AV, Scheid TL (eds) A handbook for the study of mental health: social context, theories and systems. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 295–314
Logan J, Deane G (2003) Diversity in Metropolitan America. Retrieved 19 Mar 2008
Kasinitz P (1992) Caribbean New York: black immigrants and the politics of race. Cornell Univ Press, New York
Waters MC (2001) Black identities: West Indian immigrant dreams and American realities. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Gopaul-McNicol SA, Brice-Baker J (1998) Cross-cultural practice: assessment, treatment, and training. Wiley, New York
Kessler RC, Mickelson KD, Williams DR (1999) The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. J Health Soc Behav 40(3):208–230
Soto JA, Dawson-Andoh NA, BeLue R (2011) The Relationship between perceived discrimination and generalized anxiety disorder among African Americans; Afro Caribbeans and non-Hispanic Whites. J Anxiety Disord 25:258–265
Vickerman M (1999) Crosscurrents: West Indian immigrants and race. Oxford University Press, New York
Helms JE, Ponterotto JG, Casas JM, Suzuki LA, Alexander CM (1995) Handbook of multicultural counseling. Sage Thousand Oaks, Beverly Hills
Gopaul-McNicol S (1998) Caribbean families: social and emotional problems. J Soc Distress Homeless 7(1):55–73
Jackson JS, Torres M, Caldwell CH, Neighbors HW, Nesse RM, Taylor RJ, Trierweiler SJ, Williams DR (2004) The National Survey of American Life: a study of racial, ethnic and cultural influences on mental disorders and mental health. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13:196–207
Jackson JS, Neighbors HW, Torres M, Martin LA, Williams DR, Baser R (2006) Use of mental health services and subjective satisfaction with treatment among Black Caribbean immigrants: results from the National Survey of American Life. Am J Public Health
Williams DR, Haile R, Gonzalez HM, Neighbors H, Baser R, Jackson JS (2007) The mental health of Black Caribbean immigrants: results from the National Survey of American Life. Am J Public Health 97(1):52
Himle JA, Muroff JR, Taylor RJ, Baser RE, Abelson JM, Hanna GL, Abelson JL, Jackson JS (2008) Obsessive–compulsive disorder among African Americans and blacks of Caribbean descent: results from the national survey of American life. Depress Anxiety 25(12):993–1005
Heeringa SG, Wagner J, Torres M, Duan N, Adams T, Berglund P (2004) Sample designs and sampling methods for the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies (CPES). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(4):221–240
Joe S, Baser RE, Breeden G, Neighbors HW, Jackson JS (2006) Prevalence of and risk factors for lifetime suicide attempts among blacks in the United States. JAMA 296(17):2112
Kessler RC, Merikangas KR (2004) The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R): background and aims. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(2):60–68
Heeringa SG, Torres M, Sweetman J, Baser R (2006) Sample design, weighting and variance estimation for the 2001–2003 National Survey of American Life (NSAL) adult sample. Technical Report. Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Kessler RC, Üstün TB (2004) The world mental health (WMH) survey initiative version of the world health organization (WHO) composite international diagnostic interview (CIDI). Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 13(2):93–121
Rehm J, Üstün TB, Saxena S, Nelson CB, Chatterji S, Ivis F, Adlaf ED (1999) On the development and psychometric testing of the WHO screening instrument to assess disablement in the general population. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 8(2):110–122
Leon AC, Shear MK, Portera L, Klerman GL (1992) Assessing impairment in patients with panic disorder: the Sheehan Disability Scale. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 27(2):78–82
StataCorp (2005) Stata statistical software: release 9. StataCorp, LP, College Station
Clark R, Anderson NB, Clark VR, Williams DR (1999) Racism as a stressor for African Americans: a biopsychosocial model. Am Psychol 54(10):805
Riolo SA, Nguyen TA, Greden JF, King CA (2005) Prevalence of depression by race/ethnicity: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Am J Public Health 95(6):998
Breslau J, Javaras KN, Blacker D, Murphy JM, Normand SLT (2008) Differential item functioning between ethnic groups in the epidemiological assessment of depression. J Nerv Ment Dis 196(4):297
Haro JM, Arbabzadeh-Bouchez S, Brugha TS, De Girolamo G, Guyer ME, Jin R, Lepine JP, Mazzi F, Reneses B, Vilagut G (2006) Concordance of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Version 3.0 (CIDI 3.0) with standardized clinical assessments in the WHO World Mental Health surveys. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 15(4):167–180
Alegria M, Shrout PE, Torres M, Lewis-Fernández R, Abelson JM, Powell M, Interian A, Lin J, Laderman M, Canino G (2009) Lessons learned from the clinical reappraisal study of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview with Latinos. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 18(2):84–95
Thornton MC, Chatters LM, Taylor RJ, Allen WR (1990) Sociodemographic and environmental correlates of racial socialization by Black parents. Child Dev 61(2):401–409
Fischer AR, Shaw CM (1999) African Americans’ mental health and perceptions of racist discrimination: the moderating effects of racial socialization experiences and self-esteem. J Couns Psychol 46(3):395
Jackson JS, Knight KM (2006) Race and self-regulatory health behaviors: the role of the stress response and the HPA axis in physical and mental health disparities. Social structures, aging, and self-regulation in the elderly. Springer, New York, pp 189–207
Jackson JS, Knight KM, Rafferty JA (2010) Race and unhealthy behaviors: chronic stress, the HPA axis, and physical and mental health disparities over the life course. Am J Public Health 100(5):933
Mezuk B, Rafferty JA, Kershaw KN, Hudson D, Abdou CM, Lee H, Eaton WW, Jackson JS (2010) Reconsidering the role of social disadvantage in physical and mental health: stressful life events, health behaviors, race, and depression. Am J Epidemiol 172(11):1238
Hunter LR, Schmidt NB (2010) Anxiety psychopathology in African American adults: literature review and development of an empirically informed sociocultural model. Psychol Bull 136(2):211
Taylor JY, Caldwell CH, Baser RE, Faison N, Jackson JS (2007) Prevalence of eating disorders among Blacks in the National Survey of American Life. Int J Eat Disord 40(S3):S10–S14
Yanovski SZ, Nelson JE, Dubbert BK, Spitzer RL (1993) Association of binge eating disorder and psychiatric comorbidity in obese subjects. Am J Psychiatry 150(10):1472–1479
Kessler RC (1979) Stress, social status, and psychological distress. J Health Soc Behav 20(3):259–272
Kessler RC, Neighbors HW (1986) A new perspective on the relationships among race, social class, and psychological distress. J Health Soc Behav 27(2):107–115
Coner-Edwards AF, Spurlock J (1988) Black families in crisis: the middle class. Routledge, New York
Forman TA (2003) The social psychological costs of racial segmentation in the workplace: a study of African Americans’ well-being. J Health Soc Behav 44(3):332–352
Feagin JR, McKinney KD (2005) The many costs of racism. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc., New York
Keith VM, Lincoln KD, Taylor RJ, Jackson JS (2010) Discriminatory experiences and depressive symptoms among African American women: do skin tone and mastery matter? Sex Roles 62(1):48–59
Silverman WK, Carter R (2006) Anxiety disturbance in girls and women. In: Worrell J, Goodheart CD (eds) Handbook of girls’ and women’s psychological health. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 60–68
Altemus M (2006) Sex differences in depression and anxiety disorders: potential biological determinants. Horm Behav 50(4):534–538
Foner N (2005) In a new land: a comparative view of immigration. NYU Press, New York
Butterfield SAP (2004) Challenging American conceptions of race and ethnicity: second generation West Indian immigrants. Int J Sociol Soc Policy 24(7/8):75–102
Chevannes B (2001) Learning to be a man: culture, socialization, and gender identity in five Caribbean communities. University of the West Indies Press, Kingston
Friedman S, Paradis CM, Hatch M (1994) Characteristics of African-American and White patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Hosp Community Psychiatry 45:798–803
McLean C, Campbell C, Cornish F (2003) African-Caribbean interactions with mental health services in the UK: experiences and expectations of exclusion as (re) productive of health inequalities. Soc Sci Med 56(3):657–669
Acknowledgments
The data collection on which this study is based was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; U01-MH57716) with supplemental support from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Michigan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levine, D.S., Himle, J.A., Taylor, R.J. et al. Panic disorder among African Americans, Caribbean blacks and non-Hispanic whites. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 711–723 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0582-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0582-x