%0 Journal Article %J Med Care %D 2013 %T Prevalence, risk, and correlates of posttraumatic stress disorder across ethnic and racial minority groups in the United States. %A Alegría, Margarita %A Fortuna, Lisa R %A Lin, Julia Y %A Norris, Fran H %A Gao, Shan %A Takeuchi, David T %A Jackson, James S %A Shrout, Patrick E %A Valentine, Anne %K Adolescent %K Adult %K African Americans %K Aged %K Asian Americans %K Continental Population Groups %K Ethnic Groups %K Female %K Hispanic Americans %K Humans %K Male %K Mental Disorders %K Middle Aged %K Patient Acuity %K Prevalence %K Risk Factors %K Social Support %K Socioeconomic Factors %K Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic %K United States %K Young Adult %X

OBJECTIVES: We assess whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) varies in prevalence, diagnostic criteria endorsement, and type and frequency of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) among a nationally representative US sample of 5071 non-Latino whites, 3264 Latinos, 2178 Asians, 4249 African Americans, and 1476 Afro-Caribbeans.

METHODS: PTSD and other psychiatric disorders were evaluated using the World Mental Health-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI) in a national household sample that oversampled ethnic/racial minorities (n=16,238) but was weighted to produce results representative of the general population.

RESULTS: Asians have lower prevalence rates of probable lifetime PTSD, whereas African Americans have higher rates as compared with non-Latino whites, even after adjusting for type and number of exposures to traumatic events, and for sociodemographic, clinical, and social support factors. Afro-Caribbeans and Latinos seem to demonstrate similar risk to non-Latino whites, adjusting for these same covariates. Higher rates of probable PTSD exhibited by African Americans and lower rates for Asians, as compared with non-Latino whites, do not appear related to differential symptom endorsement, differences in risk or protective factors, or differences in types and frequencies of PTEs across groups.

CONCLUSIONS: There appears to be marked differences in conditional risk of probable PTSD across ethnic/racial groups. Questions remain about what explains risk of probable PTSD. Several factors that might account for these differences are discussed, as well as the clinical implications of our findings. Uncertainty of the PTSD diagnostic assessment for Latinos and Asians requires further evaluation.

%B Med Care %V 51 %P 1114-23 %8 2013 Dec %G eng %N 12 %R 10.1097/MLR.0000000000000007 %0 Journal Article %J J Consult Clin Psychol %D 2012 %T Social capital, acculturation, mental health, and perceived access to services among Mexican American women. %A Valencia-Garcia, Dellanira %A Simoni, Jane M %A Alegría, Margarita %A Takeuchi, David T %K Acculturation %K Adolescent %K Adult %K Anxiety %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K Depression %K Female %K Health Services Accessibility %K Humans %K Mental Health %K Mexican Americans %K Middle Aged %K Social Class %K Stress, Psychological %K Women %X

OBJECTIVE: We examined whether individual-level social capital-the intangible resources in a community available through membership in social networks or other social structures and perceived trust in the community-was associated with acculturation, depression and anxiety symptoms, and perceived access to services among women of Mexican ancestry.

METHOD: Recruited through venue-based targeted sampling in King County, Washington, 205 women of Mexican descent ages 18 to 64 years who differed in socioeconomic status and nativity completed a cross-sectional survey. Half completed the survey in Spanish and half in English. Structural equation modeling was used for model testing.

RESULTS: Social capital increased with level of acculturation and was negatively related to depression and anxiety; it had no direct association with perceived access to services. Social capital mediated the relation between acculturation and both depression and anxiety symptoms. Acculturation had no direct association with psychological distress but was directly associated with perceived access to services. This community sample of women reported high levels of psychological distress, with 20% to 26% of women meeting diagnostic criteria for depression or anxiety.

CONCLUSIONS: Social capital can be assessed at the individual level, increases with acculturation, and may be a potential target for interventions to improve mental health among Mexican American women residing in the United States.

%B J Consult Clin Psychol %V 80 %P 177-85 %8 2012 Apr %G eng %N 2 %R 10.1037/a0027207 %0 Journal Article %J J Health Econ %D 2011 %T Psychiatric disorders and labor market outcomes: evidence from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication. %A Chatterji, Pinka %A Alegría, Margarita %A Takeuchi, David %K Adult %K Comorbidity %K Employment %K Female %K Health Surveys %K Humans %K Male %K Mental Disorders %K Models, Econometric %K Sex Distribution %K Sex Factors %K United States %X

This paper uses the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication to estimate effects of recent psychiatric disorder on employment, hours worked, and earnings. We employ methods proposed in Altonji et al. (2005a) which use selection on observable traits to provide information regarding selection along unobservable factors. Among males, disorder is associated with reductions in labor force participation and employment. When selection on observed characteristics is set equal to selection on unobserved characteristics, the magnitudes of these effects for males are 9 and 14 percentage point reductions for participation and employment, respectively. Among females, we find negative associations between disorder and labor force participation and employment, but these estimates are more sensitive to assumptions about selection. There are no effects of disorder on earnings or hours worked among employed individuals.

%B J Health Econ %V 30 %P 858-68 %8 2011 Sep %G eng %N 5 %R 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.06.006 %0 Journal Article %J J Epidemiol Community Health %D 2010 %T Who, and what, causes health inequities? Reflections on emerging debates from an exploratory Latin American/North American workshop. %A Krieger, Nancy %A Alegría, Margarita %A Almeida-Filho, Naomar %A Barbosa da Silva, Jarbas %A Barreto, Maurício L %A Beckfield, Jason %A Berkman, Lisa %A Birn, Anne-Emanuelle %A Duncan, Bruce B %A Franco, Saul %A Garcia, Dolores Acevedo %A Gruskin, Sofia %A James, Sherman A %A Laurell, Asa Christina %A Schmidt, Maria Inês %A Walters, Karina L %K Health Priorities %K Healthcare Disparities %K Humans %K Latin America %K North America %K Politics %K Poverty %K Public Health %K Social Conditions %K Social Justice %K Warfare %B J Epidemiol Community Health %V 64 %P 747-9 %8 2010 Sep %G eng %N 9 %R 10.1136/jech.2009.106906