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Cited by 113Mental Health Treatment and AccessHealth disparities and outcomesRacial and Ethnic Identity Research

Racial differences in depression in the United States: how do subgroup analyses inform a paradox?

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Barnes, David M., Keyes, Katherine M., Bates, Lisa M.·2013·Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
DOI 10.1007/s00127-013-0718-7PMC PMC3834079
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Abstract

Purpose Non-Hispanic Blacks in the US have lower rates of major depression than non-Hispanic Whites, in national household samples. This has been termed a "paradox," as Blacks suffer greater exposure to social stressors, a risk factor for depression. Subgroup analyses can inform hypotheses to explain this paradox. For example, it has been suggested that selection bias in household samples undercounts depression in Blacks; if selection is driving the paradox, Black-White differences should be most pronounced among young men with low education. Methods We examined Black-White differences in lifetime major depression in subgroups defined simultaneously by sex, age, and education using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) and the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES). Results In NESARC and CPES, Blacks had lower odds than Whites of lifetime major depression in 21 and 23 subgroups, respectively, of 24. All statistically significant differences were in subgroups favoring Blacks, and lower odds in Blacks were more pronounced among those with more education. Conclusions These results suggest that hypotheses to explain the paradox must posit global mechanisms that pertain to all subgroups defined by sex, age, and education. Results do not lend support for the selection bias hypothesis.

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  • The limited research on ethnicity, gender, and depression in the United States does not indicate variation by ethnicity in the gender difference in depression.

    “The limited research on ethnicity, gender, and depression in the United States does not indicate variation by ethnicity in the gender difference in depression”

    From Gender Differences in Depression in Representative National Samples: Meta-Analyses of Diagnoses and Symptoms (2017) · cites this paper as Barnes et al., 2013

    The Results section (‘Tests of interaction in NESARC data’; page unavailable) reports a non-significant race × sex interaction (P = 0.89), consistent with no detected Black–White variation in the sex difference in lifetime major depression. The study tests Black and White respondents, not ethnicity broadly, and says it lacked sufficient power to test the interaction for 12-month depression. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Authors
Barnes, D. M., Keyes, K. M., & Bates, L. M.
Affiliations
Columbia University (US)
Corresponding author
Barnes, David M.
ORCID
Venue
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2013-06-04
Volume
48
Issue
12
Pages
1941-1949
ISSN
  • 0933-7954 (ISSN-L)
  • 1433-9285
DOI
10.1007/s00127-013-0718-7
PMC
PMC3834079
OpenAlex
W2054072535
Cited by
113
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3
FWCI
10.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH013043)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
Keywords
black-white disparities, major depressive disorder, selection bias, social stressors, subgroup analysis, educational attainment, sex differences, age differences, lifetime depression, NESARC
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Black or African American, Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Residence Characteristics, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Social Class, Socioeconomic Factors, United States, Prevalence, White People, Young Adult

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