Disparity in Depression Treatment Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations in the United States
Open accessAbstract
Objective Prior research on racial and ethnic disparities in depression treatment has been limited by the scarcity of national samples that include an array of diagnostic and quality indicators and substantial numbers of non-English-speaking individuals from minority groups. Using nationally representative data for 8,762 persons, the authors evaluated differences in access to and quality of depression treatments between patients in racial-ethnic minority groups and non-Latino white patients. Methods Access to mental health care was assessed by past-year receipt of any mental health treatment. Adequate treatment for acute depression was defined as four or more specialty or general health provider visits in the past year plus antidepressant use for 30 days or more or eight or more specialty mental health provider visits lasting at least 30 minutes, with no antidepressant use. Results For persons with past-year depressive disorder, 63.7% of Latinos, 68.7% of Asians, and 58.8% of African Americans, compared with 40.2% of non-Latino whites, did not access any past-year mental health treatment (significantly different at p Conclusions Simply relying on present health care systems without consideration of the unique barriers to quality care that ethnic and racial minority populations face is unlikely to affect the pattern of disparities observed. Populations reluctant to visit a clinic for depression care may have correctly anticipated the limited quality of usual care.
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Latinos are less likely to utilize mental health services and less likely to receive adequate care.
“available data suggest Latinos are less likely to utilize mental health services and those who do seek treatment are less likely to receive adequate care (Alegria et al., 2008).”
From Mindful attention moderating the effect of experiential avoidance in terms of mental health among Latinos in a federally qualified health center (2018) · cites this paper as Alegria et al., 2008
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- Authors
- Alegría, M., Chatterji, P., Wells, K., Cao, Z., Chen, C.-N., Takeuchi, D., Jackson, J., & Meng, X.-L.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychiatric Services
- Published
- 2008-11
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1264-1272
- ISSN
- 0022-1597 (ISSN-L)
- 1075-2730
- 1557-9700
- PMC
- PMC2668139
- OpenAlex
- W4247094702
- Cited by
- 993
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 54 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 103 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 94 · 2016: 80 · 2015: 58 · 2014: 59 · 2013: 55 · 2012: 45
- FWCI
- 42.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychiatric Services (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- John W. Alden Trust
- National Institutes of Health
- U.S. Public Health Service (044708)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 57716, U01 MH06220, P50MH073469, MH60220, U01MH062209, U01MH060220, U01MH057716)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (K23DA018715)
- Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD042828)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Cultural Competency in Health Care
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- racial and ethnic disparities, depression treatment, access to mental health care, mental health care quality, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, antidepressant use, mental health service utilization, barriers to care
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Depression, Ethnicity, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Quality of Health Care, United States, Logistic Models, Health Care Surveys, Racial Groups, Healthcare Disparities, Young Adult
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